Double or Nothing
by waitingforyouonce
Summary: With Stefan trapped in a watery grave and Bonnie no longer on the earthly plane, Silas' two biggest obstacles are no longer a problem. Everything has gone according plan, but now Silas has to figure out a way to bring back the woman he loves. What will happen when it comes out that Stefan & Bonnie haven't actually been taken care of. Stefan/Bonnie, Silas/Qetsiyah
1. Chapter 1

**I'll be the first to admit that as a Bonnie (and Stefan) fan I was extremely disappointment with the finale. I'm actually unsure if I'll even watch Season 5, but I do plan on still writing fanfic regardless. Interestingly enough I was inspired by some speculation I saw on tumblr so I decided to write something of my own. Anyway here is the first chapter.**

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**Mystic Falls – Present Day (Stefan's Home)**

Silas gets out bed and briefly glances at the two women that are asleep in his bed before sighing in annoyance. He hates when they end up staying the night. He seriously contemplates whether or not to feed on them when both of the women stir. Deciding that feeding on them would be more trouble than it's worth, he compels them to leave instead. The women quickly start getting dressed and soon they are near the door getting ready to leave.

"Goodbye Stefan." The pale brunette giggles while her darker skinned friend drags her toward the front door.

"Have a good day ladies." He smiles tightly at the two women before the shutting the door. He has to admit that he still has trouble not rolling his eyes whenever he answers to his doppelganger's name, but it has gotten somewhat easier over a bit of time.

Ever since he's taken over his doppelganger's life, it has been a month of debauchery – feeding and non-stop sex. While he admits that it has been fun indulging, it has become boring and he now finds himself thinking of the actual reason he is came to Mystic Falls, Qetsiyah.

He may have spent the last month with other women but his mind had never been off of his powerful witch. Leave it to history to get things completely wrong. Despite what legend says, Qetsiyah hadn't been a friend that he ignored in favor of another. She was actually the woman he had planned to spend eternity with until everything went horribly wrong.

**Ancient Egypt - 2000 Years Ago (Qetsiyah's Bedroom)**

Qetsiyah smiles when Silas kisses her neck. "I've been waiting for you, my love. What kept you from me so long?"

"I had to wait until everyone was distracted so I could slip away." Silas pulls her into his arms "I take it you missed me tigress?"He asks humorously as his hands glide down her body, his lips never leaving the crook of her neck.

"Of course." She turns in his arms, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss. Silas' hands move from around her waist to her face to deepen their kiss. The kiss serves to fuel their need, but Silas still pulls away from his lover as a worrying thought comes to him.

"Where are Nekonekh and the little one?" Silas asks referring to her husband and child. As much as he craves his witch, he wants to be sure their affair isn't in danger of being revealed.

"Nekonekh and the other men went to gather supplies and the 'little one' as you call him, went along with them." She leans in to press a kiss to his lips, but Silas backs away. Qetsiyah looks at him in confusion, silently waiting for him to explain the sudden change in his demeanor.

"I'm not sure if we should keep doing this." He caresses her cheek. "It is becoming more and more difficult to leave you." His voice takes on a gloom tone as he stares intensely at her.

"What exactly are you saying Silas?" Qetsiyah looks back at him nervously.

"I'm saying I think we should runaway together, leave everything behind."

"What about our children? Could you really leave your daughter behind, especially since has already lost her mother?" Qetsiyah pauses, briefly thinking of Silas deceased wife that died during childbirth.

"I'm certain I could because I know she is already being adequately cared for by my brother's family." He takes her lips, briefly brushing them with his own in a short, but no less passion-filled kiss. She looks away from him intending to catch her breath, but he takes her chin pulling her face back towards his.

"Qetsiyah." He says her full name instead of his usual endearment for her and she knows what he says next will be very important. "I know you could do the same. We both know you are unhappy with the life you were forced into." He grabs at her shoulders.

"This." He looks around the large bedroom. "Should have been ours and you know it." He looks at her passionately and they both think about the way they were torn from each other as teenagers.

They had been best friends growing up as they both came from powerful witch families. Eventually they fell in love, but because of the differences in their backgrounds were not allowed to marry. As powerful as they both were back then, they had been too young to actually go through with defying their families.

Instead they were pushed into arranged marriages with people who were deemed more appropriate choices. They managed to stay away from each long enough for them both to have children, but after that they began a secret affair that has continued for a few years. The clandestine meetings had been enough for them at first, but lately they have both yearned for more.

"You are right my love." She nods at him. "We should have had a life together, but back then we were too afraid to do anything about it. We might not have had enough power back then, but I'm certain we do now and we could be together for eternity." She smiles up at him and begins to tell him her plan to make them both immortal.

Afterwards she finds herself flat on her back and being kissed thoroughly by her lover. The need that had been rampant when Silas first appeared returns almost immediately. He quickly divests both of them of their clothes and thrusts inside of her without any warning.

The moment his cock pushes inside of her his eyes widen with intense pleasure. Being with her is always amazing, but tonight knowing that they will finally get to be together like they have always wanted makes every moment all the more pleasurable.

Qetsiyah moans softly; her hips rise up with each thrust. Soon the pleasure almost becomes too much for her and she attempts to back away somewhat. "Oh God" she whimpers when she feels her orgasm building. "It's too much."

"Stay with me, Tigress." Silas whispers into her hair before bringing their mouths together. Silas grunts and pulls her thighs down lower around his hips, but doesn't relent. He continues making love to her wildly until she finally shatters around him, bringing him to his own orgasm. They collapse against each other and are on their way to contentment when they suddenly hear loud shouts.

Before Silas can react he is knocked unconscious.

**Mystic Falls (Stefan's Home)- Present Day **

The shouts at been from Qetsiyah's husband and some of the other townsmen. It seems that Nekonekh had suspected their affair for a while now and had waited for them to meet so the affair would be exposed.

While he had been knocked unconscious, Qetsiyah had been killed by the townsmen. He had initially assumed it had been due to their affair, but he found out that the actual reason because she was a witch. Nekonekh had known about her powers before they married and had been okay with it. Silas had been furious when he found out Nekonekh had betrayed her secret because of his anger over the affair.

Back then it had been against the law for women to practice witchcraft, but not for men which was why he was spared public a death. Instead they planned banishing him so he would he die suffering. Before that could happen however, Qetsiyah had been able to make him immortal, saving him from death (though not from years of banishment) but without her body (it had been burned beyond recognition) she was unable to do the same for herself.

Still they vowed that they would be together for eternity. As a result, they had been planning for years to find a way, but it wasn't until recently that they realized that their plan could finally come to fruition. With him trapped as an immortal and her on the Other Side, the only ways for them to be together would either be for him take a cure and join her, something that was unacceptable for either of them as they would lose a most of their power once they were reunited. Since neither of them wanted to relinquish their power, they decided to go for the other option.

The other option had for them for them to wait for Qetsiyah's doppelgänger that would eventually show up in her ancestry line and find a way to take over her body. The doppelgänger would undoubtedly wield a lot of power which meant that not only would Qetsiyah finally have a body, but they would also be able to get him get back to his true form. They however had no way of knowing how long that might take; they only knew that they would wait forever if need be.

In the meantime Silas watched as his own doppelgänger appeared and while he was initially angry about the creation, once he saw him running around with Emily Bennett, he recognized that it might eventually work to his advantage. It took nearly two hundred years after that initial encounter for it to happen, but once Bonnie Bennett and Stefan Salvatore met, he knew he and Qetsiyah were close to getting what they wanted.

After seeing them interact Silas had always found it interesting that his doppelgänger and the witch never wondered why he was always allowed in the Old Witches House when no other vampire including his own brother was allowed inside. Neither wondered why he worked so hard to earn her trust and why she wanted even wanted to trust him in the first place. They likely just chalked it up to being him being pure-hearted instead of looking for any alternate reasoning.

Qetsiyah watched on as her ancestor's power grew, knowing that their plan to use her body would only work when the witch's powers were nearly insurmountable. When the Bennett witch began delving into dark magic and expression, they knew the time had come and began working accordingly.

He managed to free himself around that same time and began manipulating the witch and her friends by telling them little things about the legend that were untrue. It killed him a little to deny Qetsiyah's importance in his life, but he knew it was necessary. It had also been decided that Qetsiyah would not contact Bonnie or vice-versa in order to play up their antagonistic relationship.

As their doppelganger's Bonnie and Stefan were the only ones with enough power to defeat him and Qetsiyah. While they were both extremely powerful on their own, together they would be an unbreakable force. When you combine their power and the fact that they both tend to be too noble for their own goods, they would be an extremely dangerous team. Silas and Qetsiyah knew their doppelgängers would have to be neutralized and the last several months were spent preparing for that. In an ironic twist the nobleness that as usually a strength for their doppelgängers ended up being their downfall. Had they been more selfish, they might not be where they are now.

Silas smirks at how well their plan worked out, no one suspects a thing and based on most of his interactions with them, they won't figure it out anytime soon.

**Ghostly Plane – Present Day**

Sheila Bennett paces worriedly, she hasn't seen Bonnie at all in the last week and she has no idea where she is. Ever since her granddaughter's death, Bonnie had been going back and forth between the ghostly plane and the earthly plane to visit the Gilbert boy, but she hasn't been back in few days. At first she thought that Bonnie finally told someone about her death and that she was able to bring herself back to life, but she knows Bonnie would have said goodbye first.

While she did go along with Bonnie's plan to hide it, unbeknownst to Bonnie, Qetsiyah managed to perform a spell that would preserve her granddaughter's body. She was able to do so when Bonnie went to graduation and Sheila had been incapable of stopping her powerful ancestor. Sheila knew that Qetsiyah's preservation spell had been for selfish (not mention dangerous) reasons, so once she knew Qetsiyah was gone from the cave, Sheila secretly did a spell that would hide Bonnie's body from both Silas and Qetsiyah. The downside meant that no one else would be able to find the body either which would make a resurrection much more difficult if not impossible.

When she and Bonnie crossed over together, Sheila had hoped that she would get a chance to tell Bonnie about what happened, but she could sense their ancestor's presence and she didn't want to alert her so she kept the news to herself.

Now she can only hope that wherever Bonnie is that she is at least safe.

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse) – Present Day**

Jeremy sighs when he hears giggling from upstairs. It's been a month since Bonnie brought him and made him promise not to tell anyone about her death, but it has been extremely difficult not to break that promise. Especially with Damon and Elena acting like they are newlyweds.

He doesn't know how long he can keep quiet especially since he hasn't heard from her in the last week. Over the last few weeks she has been going back and forth between here and the ghostly plane, but this week nothing. He assumes that she's been busy in the ghostly plane, but he hopes he hears from her soon. If Not he will have a talk with others and break a promise he probably shouldn't have kept in the first place.

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Home) - Present Day**

Caroline Matt, Rebekah, and Tyler are hanging out together at Matt & Tyler's home and while it has been fun (and a little weird hanging out with Rebekah & Matt now that they are a couple), Caroline has to admit that she really misses Bonnie.

She hasn't seen her best friend since after graduation since Bonnie decided to spend the summer with her mother, but she hopes that she comes back in time to spend a little of time together before they go off to college.

**Unknown Room-Present Day**

Stefan jolts awake expect to be surrounded by water, but finds that he is laying in a bed of room he doesn't recognize.

Stefan sits up in the strange bed wondering if this yet another hallucination. He's been having a lot of those lately and strangely that have all been focused and centered on Bonnie. He has no idea if it's because she was the last person on his mind when he was going into the lake or if it is the guilt that he's technically still alive when she is not. He spent a lot of time thinking about her and how out of everyone she deserved to have good life the most.

After that he started getting the hallucinations. They usually started out with a memory of a moment they shared, but usually the moment would turn more intimate and romantic. He never has a problem with those hallucinations because Bonnie is a beautiful woman and he's always been attracted to her physically and magically.

The only problem is that the hallucinations usually turn horrific and that makes him remember that he is trapped underwater without much hope of being rescued.

When Stefan looks around the room again and still fails to recognize anything he realizes that this most likely isn't another hallucination. Still he decides to check out things hoping it will help him figure out what's going on. Before he can get up however he glances down and is shocked to see a familiar face lying beside him.

"Bonnie?" He yells out in surprise.

At his unintentional yell Bonnie jolts up into a sitting position looking just as shocked when she realizes who it was that called out her name. "Stefan?"

The two continue to stare at each other, both equally bewildered and flustered by the situation.


	2. Chapter 2

**Unknown Place – Present Day**

Stefan tries to open the door for a third time and once again gets a shock when his hand touches the doorknob. This time he decides to give it up, because clearly leaving the room isn't going to be happening anytime soon.

Bonnie briefly closes and reopens her eyes, silently wondering if ghosts have the ability to hallucinate. The last thing she remembers before losing consciousness is that she was on way back to her Grams after visiting Jeremy and Caroline. Now she is in a room that she doesn't recognize with the last person she would have ever expected.

She jumps suddenly when Stefan pinches her arm. "Ouch. Why the hell did you just pinch me?" She looks back him rubbing her arm.

"Sorry." He looks at her sheepishly. "I needed to make sure this wasn't another hallucination. I figured pinching myself would do me no good." He shrugs.

Bonnie laughs slightly despite the serious look on his face because of how absurd it sounds. She sobers up when she catches the first half of his explanation. "Wait. How do you know I'm a ghost and why would you be having hallucinations?"

"Silas told me about your death right before he trapped me at the bottom of the lake." He says sadly.

"I thought I had taken care of him." Bonnie gasps in surprise and a bit of frustration that Silas was free once again.

"Silas was released once you died because of some kind of loophole or so he said."

"So the Stefan that's been walking around Mystic Falls is actually…" Bonnie begins connecting the dots.

"Silas? Yeah, apparently I'm his doppelganger and he needed me out of the way for whatever his plan is." They look at each other, both thinking about the potential danger this places everyone in, until Stefan breaks the staring contest and changes the subject. "So now we just have to figure out where we are."

"Yeah. I'm going to go out on a limb assume that I'm still a ghost and you're technically still at the bottom of that lake since no one knows what happened to you. " She rests her head in her hand underneath her chin.

"And we aren't allowed to leave the room." Stefan glances at Bonnie and can see the wheels turning in her head. It's always interesting to see Bonnie lost in thought and is pleased to see that not even death has changed that. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that we might be in limbo. All the signs are there and we're both in spirit form." Bonnie explains her theory to him and the more he hears the more it starts to make sense.

"I think you're right. Everything I remember about limbo seems to match up." He agrees before his mind goes back to more morbid subject. "Bonnie?" She looks back at him. "What exactly happened the day you died?"

**Mystic Grill – Present Day**

Damon and Elena are walking to his car after picking up a nice meal when they see Stefan with a strange woman, something that is not exactly usual that isn't unusual these days. They watch as he kisses the woman on the cheek and lets her drive off.

Silas can sense them standing behind him and rolls his eyes to himself before changing his face into Stefan's typical brooding expression. "Elena. Damon." He greets them.

Elena smiles at him encouragingly "Stefan, how are you today?" Silently Elena thinks about how unlike Stefan this is. She expects the constant one night stand thing from Damon when he's not in a relationship, it is weird seeing Stefan this way. Still if this how he needs to cope, she isn't going to condemn him for it.

Silas wants to laugh at her fake attempt of encouragement, but instead says "I'm doing okay."

"We can see that little brother." Damon says referring to the woman that had just left." It's not exactly like his brother to have a bunch of one night stands, but if it keeps his mind of Elena, Damon figures it's for the best.

The three stand there for a few moments awkwardly before Elena breaks the silence. "Well I guess we'll see you later." She and Damon say goodbye and quickly walk to Damon's car.

Silas watches them leave and once he's sure they are gone, he shakes his head in annoyance. He doesn't really understand how or why his doppelganger would put up with either them. He would have let them go a long time ago if he had to see them all the time, not to mention watching them constantly simper over one another. Then again he would have likely have been too focused on the Bennett witch to really care either way.

It is then that his mind goes from Bonnie to Qetsiyah. He hasn't had much luck finding the witch's body and it's beginning to get frustrating. With those thoughts, he thinks it's time to pay a visit to the boardinghouse to pay a visit to the younger Gilbert. He's the only one that is aware the witch is dead and Silas might be able to sense whether or not he knows where the body is.

**Ghostly Plane – Present Day**

Sheila sighs in aggravation. She really isn't having the best day. Qetsiyah isn't happy that Bonnie's body is missing, Sheila still doesn't know where Bonnie is, and contacting the Gilbert boy isn't working at all. She had hoped she would be able to contact him since he can see ghosts, but for some reason the other spirits won't allow her any contact with him.

She assumes that it is partially because Bonnie's used dark magic multiple times to resurrect him, but she thinks that there is something else going on as well. She also has to wonder if the spirits were involved with Bonnie's disappearance. If they are she can only hope they know what they are doing in the long run.

**Limbo –Present Day**

Stefan listens intently and sadly as Bonnie goes over the details of her death, when he suddenly remembers something that had been said on that fateful day.

During the graduation ceremony right before their group hug, Stefan remembers Caroline teasing Bonnie about crying. Bonnie's response had been that it was their last hurrah before they went off to college. He didn't think anything of it at the time, but now he remembers that she had not included herself in that statement. She had made a point of saying _you guys go off to college_ instead of _we all go off to college, _which means that she had already been dead way before the ceremony.

At that realization, Stefan feels anger rush through him and he is unable to reign in his anger.

Bonnie feels the sudden anger radiating from Stefan and wonders where exactly it's coming from. At first she assumes it's related to the situation in general, but after a few seconds she realizes Stefan's anger is actually focused on her. The next words out of his mouth confirm her thoughts.

"Bonnie, you really piss me off sometimes. Do you know that?" His normally calm voice takes on an almost menacing tone.

At that Bonnie's defenses are raised, wavering between being annoyed and confused by the change in atmosphere.

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse) – Present Day**

Caroline knocks on the door of the boardinghouse and waits to be let in when Jeremy appears at the door. "Hey Jer." She smiles at him.

"Hi Caroline. If you're looking for Elena she and Damon aren't actually here right now." He smiles at her apologetically.

"Actually, I came to talk to you. It's about Bonnie. Can I come in?" She asks with a hint urgency.

Jeremy thinks about blowing her off, but knows that it would only make Caroline more suspicious. So he nods his head and backs up in order to let her in. They then walk into the leaving room both sitting on the large couch that sits in the middle of the room.

"So what did you want to know about Bonnie?" He is able to get it out evenly enough, but wonders how long that will last.

"I haven't been able to get in contact with her at all this last month." Caroline sighs sadly. "I know you said she went away with Abby, but we've never gone this long without talking. It's not like her to not answer." The more she thinks about it, the more worried she gets.

"Maybe she wanted to spend time with Abby without interruptions." Jeremy half-heartedly reasons.

"I don't know." The explanation isn't that unbelievable, but it still doesn't sit well with her. "You were the last one to see her did she seem okay to you?" She looks at him anxiously.

"What do you mean?" He plays dumb hoping that she doesn't see the truth on his face.

"I didn't realize it at the time with everything going on, but now I remember that Bonnie seemed kind down and emotional all day." She thinks back to that day, hating that she didn't remember that until just now.

"It was a big day for you guys. I'm sure it was the usual nostalgia that comes with the day." Jeremy stands up and looks out the window to escape looking at her.

"Maybe." Caroline nods, but inwardly she still thinks that something isn't right about the situation.

"I hate to rush you out, but I have to head to work." At this point Jeremy just wants to get her out because he's afraid of blurting out the truth.

She stands up and heads to door saying goodbye to Jeremy on her way out. Once she is in her car she thinks about the odd way Jeremy was acting. His explanations made sense, but he clearly kept trying to deflect, not to mention the way it kept avoiding looking at her. He obviously wasn't going to be any help with this, so she thinks it's time for her to pay Bonnie's father a visit.

**Limbo – Present Day**

"What the hell are you talking about?" Bonnie glares up at Stefan, her own anger flaring up. They might be stuck together, but that doesn't mean she wants to deal with an angry vampire.

Stefan continues his angry pacing for several moments attempting to calm himself down, but with every step his anger only rises.

"You were already dead at graduation and you didn't tell anyone!" Bonnie stiffens in surprise at his words. "Why the hell wouldn't you tell us about this?" Stefan spits out with no attempt to sugarcoat his words.

"It was graduation. I wanted everyone to have a good day instead of feeling bad about something that couldn't be fixed." She explains calmly.

She says it with such resignation that it only serves to make Stefan angrier because it is just like her to do something like that.

"I had the cure and if I'd known that you needed it, I would have given it to you. And if that didn't work we could have found another way to save you." Stefan stops pacing his anger shifting to sadness. "Why couldn't you be selfish and think about yourself for once?" He sits down next to her on the bed slipping her hand into his own.

Bonnie looks slightly shocked at the uncharacteristic show of emotion in regards to her. Don't get her wrong she knows that Stefan cares about her on some level, but she always assumed that it would be more for Elena's sake than anything else.

"I know that I haven't always been a great friend to you, but I do care about you." Stefan begins softly, seemingly reading her thoughts. "It may have initially been because of how important you were to Elena, but now I couldn't imagine you not being a part of my life." He stares intently at her, hoping to convey just why he is upset at apparent lack of regard for her own life.

"I just want to know why you wouldn't tell anyone about this. Why do you have to be so damn selfless all the time?" His voice rises, but there is no anger this time only frustration.

"You're one to talk 'Mr. I have the cure, but I'll give to Elena instead.' You aren't exactly known for being for being selfish either." She tries diverting the conversation back to him, inwardly smiling when he seemingly takes the bait.

"Ok, but in my case giving Elena the cure made sense, she never would have become vampire if she hadn't have met me or Damon. I was just trying to give that back to her." He says defending his own actions.

"Stefan as much as I hate to say it, Elena clearly wants to be a vampire at this point. This is why she didn't take the cure and instead gave it to Katherine." She looks down at their joined hands, it's funny a couple of years ago she would have been angry that Elena wanted to stay a vampire, but she now realizes that much like she loves being a witch, her friends like having the power that comes with being a vampire.

"Ok so we both have tendency to play martyr." He smirks self-deprecatingly before continuing on, "Once we find a way to get out of here, we should really stop doing that." He smile becomes wider and Bonnie can't help smiling back before sobering up.

"You mean _you_ should stop doing that. If we do get out of here, I'll still be dead I am a ghost you know." Bonnie points out bravely, but she is unable to hide the sadness in her voice.

Stefan frowns and slides closer to her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "No I mean _we_ should stop doing that. If we ever get out of here I'm not to rest until we find a way to bring you back. And before you say anything helping you is totally different than helping the others. So are you with me on this?" He stares unblinkingly into her eyes.

"Okay" She agrees, "So I guess on top of finding a way out of here, we should both should start working on thinking about ourselves more often." She smiles and is surprised when Stefan pulls her into a tight hug.

If anyone else had made that promise, she would have scoffed, but she believes if anyone has the power to bring her back, it would be Stefan. And the thought of someone working that hard on her behalf makes her strangely happy.

Stefan smiles softly when he feels Bonnie melt into his embrace glad that she finally agreed to let him help her. Now they just have to figure out how to get out of here.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - This took me a bit longer than I planned because I had hard time writing the Bonnie keeping her death from everyone in a way that makes sense, but I tried my best. I'll be honest and admit I think that I think this Bonnie ghost plot is stupid and I doubt Plec will do it in a way that doesn't make everyone look bad for not wondering where Bonnie is. **

**Also I didn't mention it in the chapter, but the time in limbo sort of runs faster than the time in the Ghostly & Earthly planes. Time isn't really moving faster, but it feels that way to Bonnie and Stefan. So what would be few days for everyone else would feel like weeks for the two of them. **

**Limbo – Present Day**

Stefan watches as Bonnie sleeps soundly next him. They have been working on a way to get out of limbo ever since they figured out where they were, but so far they haven't had much luck. Today had been more of the same and eventually an exhausted Stefan convinced an equally exhausted Bonnie to get some sleep.

He had fallen asleep as well, but had been awakened by a dream about Bonnie that left him aroused. Normally that wouldn't have been a bad thing, but he had been so terrified that with Bonnie sleeping right beside him that he might end up grabbing her in his sleep, that he jolted awake. Fortunately upon waking he realized that it hadn't happened, but he had still been too keyed up to fall back asleep. He had finally been able to calm himself down, but now hours later sleep still eluded him.

Instead Stefan finds himself content just to watch Bonnie sleep; fascinated by all of her little quirks. Almost as if she is reading his mind, Bonnie suddenly stirs; stretching before she looks back at him.

"How long have you been awake? Bonnie asks slightly self-conscious. She knows that as a vampire he doesn't need as much rest and wonders how long he might have been watching.

"Long enough to know that you're a snorer." He quips, laughing when she throws her pillow at him.

"Shut up. I do not snore." Bonnie mock pouts; secretly thrilled by his teasing. Despite knowing each other all this time, she had never really gotten to see this side of him before now.

"How would you know whether or not you snore if you're asleep." He smiles at her before getting distracted by the stray hair covering her cheek. Without thinking, Stefan reaches over and pushes her hair back. Before he can pull away his hand grazes her face and he's surprised when he feels a spark run through him at the contact.

While Bonnie is surprised by Stefan's unexpected move, she finds herself more surprised by the spark she feels when his hand touches her cheek. Uncomfortable by those thoughts, Bonnie decides to instead focus on getting them out of limbo. "Maybe we she should get back to work."

"Actually, I think we should take a break today. We've been at this for what seems like weeks and we haven't gotten anywhere. Some time away might help in the long run. Plus I like talking to you. Are you game?" Stefan smiles softly at her.

"Okay." Bonnie grins back at him. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Her eyes sparkle with amusement and Stefan wonders what exactly he got himself into.

**Mystic Falls (Cave) –Present Day**

Silas angrily punches the cave wall causing the walls to slightly vibrate with his power. He had just come from seeing the Gilbert boy. He had hoped him being aware of Bonnie's death would also mean that he had some information about the witch that Silas had missed. In the end he found out nothing new, which means that trying to find the witch's body will be all the more difficult. He won't give up however; Silas has been waiting lifetimes to be reunited with his love and now that they are close to getting what they want, no way is he giving up. Even if that means everyone in Mystic Falls goes down in the process.

After that revelation, he feels a breeze and knows that it is Qetsiyah's making her presence known.

"Soon, Tigress." He cracks his knuckles "Soon we will be together in every way" He smiles wickedly as he walks out of the cave.

**Limbo – Present Day**

"You did not hear me." Bonnie flushes with slight embarrassment after the subject of her first sighting of him comes up.

"I specifically remember hearing you say that I had a hot back." Stefan chuckles, he hadn't actually thought about that day in a while, but he does remember feeling extremely flattered as well as a bit of an attraction to her. If he's honest, he might have actually asked her out had he not been so focused on Elena.

If possible Bonnie flushes even more, but still she attempts to play it off. "You're a good looking guy and you were in my line of vision. You can't blame me for stating the obvious." She shrugs. She would never admit it, but she had been extremely attracted to him but after she realized he was into Elena she let it go. Speaking of Elena, "So it feels like we've been avoiding this, but I really do want to know how you're dealing Elena choosing Damon?"

"I'm feeling better about it than I was when it first happened. Still while I wouldn't say I'm happy about Elena choosing someone else, I guess I'm happy that both she and Damon are happy." Stefan smiles weakly.

Bonnie squeezes his hand and not for the first time wonders how Elena could pick Damon over Stefan.

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse) – Present Day**

Elena is pleasantly surprised to see Caroline at her door as she hasn't seen her all that much, this last month being focused on her new relationship with Damon. "Hey Caroline." Elena gives her a smile only for it to fade when she sees the look on blonde vampire's face. "What's up?"

"It's about Bonnie." Caroline says cutting to chase. She's way too worried about Bonnie to focus on fake pleasantries.

"What about Bonnie?" Elena asks confused, Jeremy had told both of them about Bonnie's plan to spend the summer with her mother, so she wonders what has Caroline so spooked.

"I've called her several times and I haven't gotten a response. Don't you think it's kind of weird that we haven't heard from her in the last month?" Caroline looks at Elena a bit frustrated by her lack of response.

"Not really." she shrugs "I mean Jeremy said that she just wanted to focus on her mother. So it makes sense that she wouldn't call us."

"It doesn't feel right to me." Caroline exhales before continuing her train of thought "I get wanting to spend time with Abby and I think that's cool. But let's get real; they haven't exactly had the greatest mother-daughter relationship so I can't see Bonnie not contacting one of us to talk." If she's honest Caroline isn't sure about Bonnie talking to Elena considering their relationship as of late, but she figured now wasn't the time to open up that can of worms.

"I think you might be over reacting a bit Caroline. Not talking to us isn't really that big of deal. She's done it before." Elena says remembering the way she was after Sheila's death and when happy left.

_'Not to me.' _is all Caroline can think. Other than the period right after she was first turned, there's rarely been a day that has gone by where Bonnie and Caroline haven't talked. However, she doesn't say this to Elena, instead she admits her real worry. "I don't think I am, I really think that something might actually be wrong. And I think something was wrong on graduation day, before she supposedly went to see Abby."

"Come on Caroline, if there had been something wrong that day Bonnie would have said something." Elena is about to say more when she hears the door open and Damon walks in.

"Blondie." Damon briefly greets Caroline before pressing a kiss to Elena's lips.

"Damon." Caroline greets him back both annoyed at the display and by the distraction it caused. She watches as Elena pushes him away slightly and address Caroline once again.

"As I was saying Bonnie would have told us if something was wrong. And if she didn't Jeremy would. She will be back before we know it." Elena smiles before looking at Damon again and Caroline realizes then that much like Jeremy, Elena won't be any help.

"Maybe you're right." Caroline fakes a smile "I guess I'll talk you later then." And with that she walks out of the boardinghouse and heads to her car.

Caroline doesn't know whether to feel hurt or angry by Elena's flippant attitude, but she does know one thing, Elena was wrong about Bonnie. It is just like Bonnie to pretend that she okay when she really isn't and it's not the first time that's happened either.

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Mansion)**

Matt is just about to head to work when he sees Caroline rush in the door. It's obvious that she is upset about something. "Hey, what's wrong?" He rushes after her before she gets to the room that she is sharing with Tyler.

Caroline is unsure if she wants to deal with having another person brush off her fears (she had even tried to contact Stefan to no avail), but quickly decides that Matt should know about Bonnie either way.

Matt sees the hesitation in her eyes and knows that whatever it is that she's dealing with has to be serious. So he waits patiently for her to gather her thoughts. Finally, she nods and they walk back to living room to sit on the couch. She then begins telling him about what's been going on the last few days.

When she is finished she waits for his response and she has to admit that there is a part of her that is expecting him to brush her off like Elena, Stefan, and Jeremy have so she is surprised when he agrees with her. "You're right and I think we should go see Bonnie's father."

"Wait. You mean you actually believe me?" She asks doubtfully. "I've already had Elena, Jeremy, and even Stefan brush me off so I wouldn't be surprised if you did as well."

"Yeah I do believe you. Bonnie wouldn't just ignore your calls and she does have a tendency to keep her troubles to herself." He explains. "To be honest, I was actually kind of worried about her as well and I called her, but I didn't get an answer either." The two share a look of worry. "I just figured that I was just being paranoid and assumed that she would at least be talking to you." He finishes as he clasps his hands together in anxiousness.

When Matt thinks back to graduation he remembers that Bonnie seemed off, but he had assumed it was because of the day. After having time to think it and adding in all of Caroline's information, now he knows that there was something was up with her.

Caroline exhales in relief, glad that someone actually believes her, but she has to admit a part of her wanted it to be paranoia because it would mean that Bonnie was fine.

"So what's your plan?" Caroline looks up when Matt addresses her again.

"I was actually thinking about going to see Bonnie's father to see if he knew anything. In fact I think I'll go right now. I'll see you later." Caroline stands up and begins walking to the front door when she hears Matt's voice.

"Ok let's go."Matt stands up as well and walks over to her.

"I thought you had to go to work?" She remembers hearing him mention that yesterday.

"Bonnie's more important than work." He says it so earnestly that Caroline can't help but smile a bit. "Besides there is no way I'd be able to concentrate on anything anyway. "So let's go talk to Mayor. Hopkins." He smiles weakly and pulls out his car keys. "I'll drive."

And with that the two of them make their way to Bennett/Hopkins home.

**Mystic Falls (Bennett/Hopkins Residence) – Present Day**

Rudy Hopkins has to admit that he was shocked to see two of Bonnie's friends at his door, especially since his daughter isn't even in town. The shock soon shifts to worry however, when Caroline explains the reason for their visit. He hasn't heard from her in the last month, but that isn't all that unusual when she's visiting Abby.

Ever since their intervention and Bonnie's cleansing, the two women have been attempting to repair their relationship. And if he's honest, despite Abby's abandonment, he did feel that she was safe with her which was why he hadn't been worried that she hadn't contacted him. However now knowing that she hasn't contacted her friends either has him a bit worried.

"You two should sit down." He gestures toward the couch "I'll call Abby and see what's going on?" He says as he walks into the hallway.

Rudy then dials Abby's number and after several rings it goes to voicemail. "Abby, it's Rudy. I really need to talk to you about Bonnie. Call me when you get this." He hangs up and is about to head back to the living room where Matt and Caroline are when door bell rings.

When he opens the door he is surprised to see Abby standing there holding her phone. "What about Bonnie?" She asks worriedly and it becomes clear that she had heard his message.

"How did you get here so fast?" Rudy asks still in shock.

"I was actually already coming to check up on Bonnie –and you" she adds the last part quietly. "Now what's going on with Bonnie?" Abby's voice rising when she notices Matt and Caroline looking at her with worry in their eyes.

"You mean she's not with you?" Caroline asks already knowing the answer to the question, but hoping to be wrong.

"No she's not. What's going on? Where is my daughter?" Abby looks around the room taking in the alarmed faces of its occupants and a mixture of confusion, worry, and dread hits her all at once.

"We don't know." Rudy answers and he proceeds to explain the situation with help from Caroline and Matt.

The more information Abby was given the more distressed she felt, still she calms herself down enough to ask "So who was the last person to actually talk to her?"

"Jeremy" Matt answers before Caroline has a chance to.

"Well I think it's time we have a talk with him, don't you?" Abby directs to Rudy who nods his head in agreement.

"I couldn't agree more. " Rudy sighs before looking at Caroline and Matt. "So where can we find him?"

**Mystic Falls (Outside of the Boardinghouse) – Present Day**

Jeremy puts the car into park and exhales tiredly before getting out. He doesn't know if he can keep hiding this secret from the others. Every day that passes where he doesn't see Bonnie, the more he thinks she isn't coming back.

It had been hard not saying anything to Matt they saw each other and that is also why he has been avoiding Caroline as late. The only ones that haven't been suspicious are Elena, Damon, and Stefan. He assumes that this is because Elena and Damon are in the honeymoon stage of their relationship and Stefan is still reeling from Elena not picking him.

Despite this, Elena did get it in her head to set him up on a blind double date with a girl she met a party. She had been asking about him and Bonnie and when he told her it wasn't going to happen between them, she set up the date. He had been having a good time, but then he remembered and felt guilty. Soon the date finished and he decided to go home instead of hanging out with Damon and Elena any longer.

Jeremy walks into the boardinghouse and is about to head to his room when he realizes that he isn't alone. When he turns around toward the living room he is surprised to see Matt, Caroline and both of Bonnie's parents standing there a mixture of worry, anger and fear on all of their faces.

"I think we have few things we need to discuss." Rudy addresses him. "The most important question being where is our daughter?" Rudy hand rests on Abby's shoulder as he says the last part.

Jeremy looks around the room at everyone and sees the worry in Caroline and Matt's eyes, he feels fear radiating off of Bonnie's parents and he knows he can no longer keep them in the dark.


	4. Chapter 4

**Boardinghouse – Present Day**

Once Jeremy reveals Bonnie's death and the circumstances surrounding it to the others, there are a variety of reactions.

Matt's first reaction is denial. He doesn't want to believe that Bonnie is gone, that she'll never get to go to college, get married or have children. It had only been a few weeks since they went to prom and were voted king and queen. _'How could things go so wrong in such a short time? _When it finally sinks in that he will never get to hear the sound of voice or see her smile again, Matt punches a hole in the wall.

Caroline is the most vocal of the group, she is unable to stop the tears from running down her face or the loud sobs from spilling out of her mouth. And despite knowing that it's way too late for it to make a difference she tearfully demands that Jeremy tell her where the body is. When she finds out that it's missing and that Jeremy believes Bonnie had been the one to hide it, she feels anger. She's angry that Bonnie decided to be selfless and not mention that anything was wrong during graduation. She's angry that Bonnie had Jeremy cover up her death from everyone. '_Did she really think I wouldn't be more hurt finding out that my best friend had been dead for months why I was laughing it up unaware?'_ Most of all Caroline is angry that she didn't realize something was wrong sooner. She had been so wrapped up in graduation, that she hadn't picked up on the little clues Bonnie subconsciously threw out.

At those realizations, Caroline is unable to stop bile from coming up in her throat and as a result has to rush to the bathroom. Afterwards she sits on the floor, wishing that this was a nightmare that she could wake up from, but she knows it's all too real. Somewhere in the back her mind, it registers that Matt is calling the others who haven't been told, but she still doesn't move from her spot on the floor.

Rudy and Abby are of course devastated at the loss of their daughter, yet both react to the news differently. When Jeremy confesses that Bonnie died trying to bring him back to life, Rudy becomes so enraged that his first instinct is to attack Jeremy. He had already accepted that he lost his wife and mother in law, but he had hoped his daughter wouldn't succumb to the Bennett curse. He thinks about how much his family has had to sacrifice for the Gilbert family and he just blacks out. _'It's his fault that my daughter is gone'_ is the only thought that runs through his mind at that point. It actually takes Matt & Abby's vampire strength to pry his hands from around Jeremy's neck. Afterwards he mumbles out an apology and walks out of the boardinghouse, needing a moment alone.

In contrast all Abby can think about is finding away to bring Bonnie back to life. '_There is no way I'm accepting this fate for my daughter.' _Not for the first time, Abby wishes she were still a witch because then she could and would gladly risk her life to bring Bonnie back with a spell. Since she is unable to do this on her own she decides to leave Mystic Falls to find someone who can help her bring Bonnie back.

Rudy sees Abby rush out of the boardinghouse and stops her before she can take off. He admits that he's still hurt by her absence, but he still remembers what they once had. And he realizes that she's the only person he wants to grieve with.

When she informs him of her plan to bring Bonnie back to life he pulls her into a hug before he insists that he go with her. "I already lost you to magic by being passive." The heat from his breath warms her ear. "I'm not going to lose Bonnie for good by doing the same. I'm going with you." his voice mixture of grief and determination.

Abby's first instinct is to say no, but when she pulls back from the hug and sees the determined look in his eyes, she realizes that she cannot and should not do this without him. "Okay." She nods her consent "When do you want to leave?"

"How about right now?"

"Okay."She sighs

"Let's go save our daughter"

And with that the two leave to prepare for their long and difficult mission to save their only child.

**Limbo – Present Day**

When Stefan slowly awakens, he feels a warmth and completeness that he hasn't felt in a long time. He is confused at first but slowly he figures out that the warmth he feels is literal and realizes that Bonnie is halfway cuddled in his arms. His arm is wrapped around her waist and he marvels at how great her curves feel under his hand. Her head rests on his shoulder and her hand is pressed against his chest. He can also feel her breath against his neck and smell the scent of her perfume. Silently he wonders just how she can smell so great even after all this time they have spent in limbo.

Bonnie shifts against him pressing herself even closer against his body and the slight erection he had upon waking grows to the point where it is almost becomes painful. '_It's getting harder'_ he thinks both literally and figuratively. Every day that passes, the more he dreams about Bonnie and the more his dreams translate to reality. He constantly wakes up with an erection and no way to fix it. The fact that the reason for his erection is in the same room as him makes things even worse.

As if he called out her name Bonnie shifts again this time stirring awake. Stefan watches as she slowly opens her eyes, finding himself mesmerized by how green they are when she first wakes up. It's something that he had never noticed before, but after spending so much time with Bonnie he now knows that her eyes tend to change depending on her mood. It makes him wonder what they would look like in a moment of passion.

The first thing Bonnie sees when she wakes up is Stefan's sculpted face. She takes in the intense way he's staring at her, the hardness of his body against her own, and she feels a heat run through her. She doesn't know if it is due to the amount of time they've spent together, the close proximity or because of something else altogether, but lately she has been finding herself extremely attracted to him. Don't get her wrong, she always thought he was hot, but now it's gotten to the point where she has to restrain herself from jumping him. Unwillingly her gaze drops to his lips and she wonders what it would be like to kiss him.

Stefan's gaze moves from Bonnie's eyes to her lips for second before looks back up into her eyes. As if in a trance, the two slowly start to lean in for a kiss until Bonnie pulls away at the last second. Her body wants to rebel, but Bonnie knows pulling away is for the best. Instead she moves out of Stefan's embrace and changes the subject. "So." She looks away and clears her throat "We should probably get started with our research." She says quietly, referring to the research they've been doing on finding a way out of limbo.

"Yeah, you're right." Stefan sits up as well and discreetly adjusts himself to ease some the tension in his groin. He admits that he's more than slightly disappointed that Bonnie pulled away, but he realizes sharing a kiss might not be the best idea at this point.

The two quickly get back to their research, neither acknowledging the almost kiss or the growing attraction between them.

**Boardinghouse – Present Day**

When Damon and Elena return from their date they see Matt, Caroline, Tyler, and Jeremy sitting in the living room. Caroline and Tyler are on the couch, Caroline resting her head on his shoulder. Her face is red and puffy from crying, but she has finally managed to stop sobbing. Matt and Jeremy both opted to sit in the two lounge chairs that bookend each end of the couch.

The room is darkened so neither Damon or Elena realize that something is very wrong at first. If they had the next words out of Damon's mouth would have been much different.

"So what was so important that you needed to interrupt our night out?" Damon addresses Matt annoyed by the phone call he received from the young blonde man.

"It's about Bonnie." Matt says with clenched teeth. Most of the time he can tolerate Damon's snarky attitude, but right now he can barely restrain himself from jumping up hitting him despite Damon's vampire status.

Elena steps forward to diffuse the situation and realizes from the look on everyone's face that something terrible has happened. "Guys?" her voice trembles as she addresses them "what happened to Bonnie?"

When they tell her and Damon what happened, the first thing Elena feels after the normal devastation is guilt because she had been so caught up in herself and Damon that she failed to notice anything was wrong with Bonnie. Next she wonders why Bonnie would keep something like that to herself and when she thinks about all that's gone on in the last year she thinks that maybe Bonnie no longer trusted her the way she used to.

Damon is shocked by Bonnie's death and he has to admit that he'll miss her, but right now he's angry that she kept her death from Elena and the others. He knows that his girlfriend will be feeling guilty because she didn't realize that something was up with the witch. He doesn't say any of this however because he knows it wouldn't go over very well with anyone in the room including Elena.

Instead he watches as Jeremy and Elena hug attempting comfort each other in their grief.

Tyler hears a click at the door and is unsurprised to see Stefan walk in the door. What he is surprised by is the uneasy feeling he gets when Stefan steps fully into the room. Of the two Salvatore brothers, he has always been a lot more comfortable with Stefan so it really makes no sense for him to feel uneasy.

Still, he decides to follow his instincts and keep an eye on the vampire. When Stefan is informed of what happened to Bonnie, Tyler notices that his reaction to the news is off. Stefan is normally much more expressive of his pain and Tyler knows that Bonnie's death would evoke a more significant response, instead of the slight sadness. He continues to stare at the vampire in confusion until he gets a whiff of his scent. _'Just what I thought not the right scent, which means we have an imposter'_ Tyler stiffens and stands up. He knows the others are looking at him in confusion, but ignores that for the time being.

"Guys? I don't know how to say this, but I don't think that's Stefan." Tyler says before swiftly getting into a defensive stance.

"What do you mean?" Caroline looks up at her boyfriend in shock from the couch.

"His scent is off." He says before explaining further "Everyone has a unique scent and as a werewolf I can sense each one. Stefan's isn't right." He steps closer to the imposter. "Which means this isn't the real Stefan."

Caroline's mouth opens in denial, but when she thinks about it makes a lot sense. He hasn't really been around much the lately and he has been sleeping around a lot, which isn't like him. She assumed it had been because of Elena choosing Damon and she had been meaning to talk to him. However, with her worry over Bonnie, she had forgotten to do so. How could she have let both of her friends down this way.

"Who the hell are you?" She looks the man that is wearing Stefan's face.

Silas debates about whether or not to deny the accusations. If he really wanted to he could easily convince them that he's his doppelganger, but pretending to be Stefan hasn't gotten him anywhere and he's tired of pretending so he decides to admit the truth.

"You know what; I no longer have the energy to continue this with charade." He lifts his hands in the air in a mock gesture of defeat. "Tyler is actually correct, I'm not Stefan."

Everyone in the room goes into shock and Silas is unsurprised to see Caroline attempting to rush him. Tyler stops her, not wanting her to place herself in unknown danger.

"Who are you then?" Damon's rage-filled voice feels the air. He might not always get along with Stefan, but he be damned if he lets someone take over his life this way.

He pouts mockingly "I'm hurt. I've spent the last several months terrorizing all of you and you don't even have the decency to remember me."

"Silas" Caroline is the first to say anything.

"I know for a fact that Bonnie took care of you." Elena says overwhelmed.

He laughs maniacally at them "You all thought the little witch had taken care of me, but what you didn't know was that when she died, a loophole was created and I was able to come back to life."

"So why pretend to be Stefan?" Elena asks in confusion.

"You aren't the only one who has doppelganger. I bet you don't feel so special anymore." He taunts.

Damon, getting tired of his taunting rushes over to him "Where the hell is my brother?" His hands go around his neck. "I'll rip you head from your body if you don't tell me where he is."

Silas rolls his eyes and pulls the stake that he carries around out before jamming it in Damon's side. Damon collapses to the ground in pain and Elena moves to check his wounds. Silas moves closer to the door when Tyler and Caroline move closer to him. "Tell us where he is."

"Do you really think your threats mean anything to me? I'm over 2,000 years old. There is only one person that could possibly defeat me and that person is now dead." Everyone stiffens at the mention of Bonnie. "I will however give you all one tiny reprieve and tell you my doppelganger is still alive." He exhales tiredly before continuing. "As for the where, you'll have to figure that out yourself, though I doubt you ever will." He chuckles one more time, finding the gloomly looks on everyone's faces amusing.

Before anyone can make a move, Silas disappears in puff of smoke.

**Limbo – Present Day**

After working quietly for several hours, Bonnie and Stefan decide to take a break and it leads to another long discussion. They initially began talking to hash out the issues that had disrupted their friendship (his involvement in Abby's death as witch and as a result, her lack of trust in him). They both figured if they were going to be trapped together for who knows how long, getting over those humps would be a good idea.

Eventually the talks shifted to more personal topics and the last few months they have spent together in limbo have lead to variety of discussions. Stefan is actually finds himself slightly shocked by how little he knew about her despite knowing each other all this time.

He never knew that she could speak five other languages (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Polish). When he told her that she had him beat by one, she teased him about it in a way that made him want to kiss the smirk off her face. He found out that she is huge fan of music and he was slightly surprised they share many of the same musical tastes despite their age difference.

He has also found out things that she has never told anyone before, like how she had always been drawn to photography. And that whenever she got a chance (lately she hasn't had any time to) she would secretly take pictures, trying to convey feeling into whatever subject she is focused on. Every new thing he finds out about her, he finds himself more drawn to her and he has no idea what to about it.

Bonnie can't believe how much she has come to enjoy talking and spending time Stefan. She knew from past conversations that he was a great listener and that he had calming influence at times, but she genuinely finds all of his stories captivating.

She enjoys hearing about his childhood and finds herself amused by a story where he at 8 years old, accidentally broke Damon's noise with a punch. She is intrigued by his stories of how he dealt with becoming a vampire. As well as learning how he deals with the guilt of being the ripper and trying to control that darker side of himself. It actually reminds her of the guilt she feels about her turn to darker magic this year. She would love place the blame on being manipulated by Shane, but she knows she had been drawn to the power it gave her. She's managed to control it now, but it is still a struggle not go back in that direction at times, especially when she is angry. It's nice to be able to talk to someone who understands having to control that dark side even more than she does.

She loves that despite his serious nature, he actually has a great sense of humor and especially loves that she is the one to bring out that side of him. Once she finds this out, she makes it her goal to get him to laugh and smile more and he does. The only downside is that every time his lips shift into a grin she always thinks about wanting to kiss him. She has no idea what to do with those thoughts and instead keeps them to herself.

Bonnie blinks out her thoughts when she hears Stefan calling her name and realizes that she zoned out. Flushing slightly, she grins to cover it up. "What's up?"

Stefan smirks when he sees the red flush in Bonnie's skin, but instead of mentioning it repeats what he said. "I said I'm glad we're here together." He smiles widely at her feeling butterflies in his stomach when she quickly returns the smile.

Bonnie sucks in a breath at the sexy grin he gives before responding. "Me too." And she means it. If she had to be stuck with anyone, she's glad that it is with Stefan.

**Ghostly Plane – Present Day**

Sheila stands in the same spot she was in when Bonnie disappeared when she realizes that she isn't alone. "Emily." She isn't surprised to see her ancestor and hopes that this means she knows Bonnie's whereabouts.

"I know you have been worried about Bonnie, but you don't need to worry as she is in limbo with the younger Salvatore." Emily's explains to her calmly.

"So I was right, the other spirits had something to do with Bonnie's disappearance, but why is she with Stefan?" Sheila asks wondering what possible reason the spirits would have to put the vampire and witch in limbo.

"Everything will be revealed in due time." She steps closer to her granddaughter "Just know that they both are safe and are being prepared to fulfill their destiny. And know that when the time comes you'll know what to do. " Emily doesn't want to vague, but knows that it will be easier for Sheila to help Bonnie if she trusts her own instincts instead of listening to instructions from the elder spirits.

And with that last thought she disappears, leaving Sheila alone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Home) – Present Day**

Damon props his feet on the small table, bored out of his mind. He and Elena had received a massage from Caroline asking them to meet at Tyler and Matt's place right away. He didn't really want to go, but Elena insisted that Caroline made it sound important. So now here they were waiting for the blonde vampire to say whatever it is she needed to say. It had been about a week since they found out the news about Bonnie and Stefan and since then everything has been hectic. Silas has seemingly left town which is good because that is one less thing to worry about, but it also makes finding Stefan more difficult.

The last week has spent been looking into ways to find where Stefan is being held, but so far he hasn't had much luck. It's even more of a harder feat now that Bonnie is gone. Until now, Damon had never realized just how much they relied on her for magic. Had the witch been around, she could have easily done a tracking spell and finding Stefan would have been a snap.

Elena glances around the room, her eyes landing on Jeremy, Tyler, Matt and Damon, before stopping on Caroline. She knows that whatever Caroline's news is has to be about Bonnie because of the way her voice sounded on the phone.

"Bonnie's parents called and told me to get everyone together." Caroline says calmly. Caroline had been in frequent contact with Abby and Rudy throughout the week, hoping that they would find something to help Bonnie. She had also been looking around Mystic Falls using her vampire contact. Neither had been very successful with their endeavors, but today Caroline received a phone call from Abby saying that had found someone one to help and when they returned to town, they needed everyone together.

Elena looks up in surprise wondering how long Caroline has been in contact with them. They had left town as soon as they heard the news about Bonnie. She had a assumed that they just wanted time away, but apparently there had been more to it than that.

"Did they say what they wanted? And why not meet at Bonnie's house then?"Elena fires off both questions rapidly.

"Vampires are last thing Bonnie's dad wants to invite in his home right now."Caroline explains, not mentioning the fact that she and Stefan both still have invites to come into Bonnie's home.

"Let me get this straight, you asked us to meet here because of Judgy 's parents? You do realize I'm trying to find my brother?" Damon says in annoyance. He gets that they are grieving, but his time would be better spent figuring out a way to find Stefan instead of getting what he assumes will be a tongue lashing from Bonnie's parents.

"This is the exact reason they didn't want to come to boardinghouse." Caroline manages to get out the words evenly despite the slight anger the flared up at Damon's tone. She knows that he's worried about Stefan (she is as well), but she hates the flippant way he's been acting since they got the news about Bonnie. As if Bonnie isn't just as important as Stefan to all of them.

"Anyway as I was saying, Bonnie's parents wanted me to get everyone together because they believe they found a way to bring Bonnie back to life."

Jeremy and Elena have the most visible reactions to the news. Caroline sees the brightness in Jeremy's eyes and the relief Elena's. Matt and Tyler both sit up somewhat surprised, they knew that Caroline had been in contact with Abby and Rudy, but they had not heard about the newest update. Damon on the other hand, seems to have no outward reaction to the news, his mind still on finding Stefan.

"That's great and all, but couldn't you have told us this over the phone. Why call us over here?" He sighs.

"I'd say you all owe it to Bonnie after all she's done for you." A voice says and everyone realizes it's coming from across the room.

Everyone turns toward the new voice and are surprised to see a somber Lucy Bennett standing in the doorway with a subdued Abby and Rudy standing behind her.

**Limbo – Present Day**

Weeks have passed since Bonnie and Stefan's almost kiss and over time the unresolved tension between them has only increased. While they have both have been making attempts to ignore the shift in the atmosphere as of late, it is becoming much more difficult to do so with each day that passes.

Right now, Stefan is lounging on the bed watching Bonnie pace back and forth in front of him; obviously lost in thought. They have been making a lot of progress with their research and Stefan was actually supposed to be going over the different ideas they have come up with, but instead he finds himself focused on Bonnie. He watches as she takes her bottom lip into her mouth with her teeth and slowly lets it pop back out.

"I think I got it." Bonnie suddenly blurts out causing Stefan to shake out of his thoughts of kissing her.

"You mean you figured out a way for us –"

"-to get out of here." She interrupts him "Sort of." Bonnie notices the perplexed look on his face and hurries on with her explanation. "It's more like I found a way to talk to the spirits. If I can get in touch with Grams and the other spirits, I should be able to gain enough power to zap us out of here. We would still have to fix me being dead and you being stuck under water, but at least half the battle would be over." She finishes happily.

An ecstatic Stefan jumps up and hauls an equally ecstatic and surprised Bonnie into a tight hug. Bonnie's arms instinctively slide around Stefan's neck while his encircle her waist. Immediately the two get lost in their own world. The moment she is in his embrace all Stefan can seem to think about is how good she feels in his arms. He revels in the way her breasts feel pressed against his chest, the way her waist feels in his hands and the heat of her breath against his neck.

Similarly, Bonnie's thoughts turn to how good the hard wall of his torso feels pressed against her and how safe she feels in his arms. Safe is not something she gotten to feel as much as of late, so the fact that Stefan provides that for her is very significant.

The rush of sensations their hug provided are not unusual or unexpected, but this time there is a difference in how those sensations will be handled. The initially innocent hug lasts a few more seconds before they both attempt to pull away. The two slowly pull back only to get caught up in each others' gazes; grayish-green clashing with bright green.

"Bonnie, I-" Stefan attempts to speak, but thinks better of it. Instead he strokes her cheekbone with his thumb and both feel the electricity flow through them.

Bonnie watches as his gaze moves to her lips and she knows that he is thinking about kissing her. The last time they were in this position she pulled back at the last second, but this time she knows that neither of them will be pulling away.

Stefan begins closing the small gap between them, his arms wrapping around her waist. Still, before he dips his head, he waits giving Bonnie time to pull away if she wants. When she doesn't pull back, Stefan completes his journey to her lips.

When their lips meet Bonnie revels in the softness of Stefan's lips. With all of his strength and power, it somewhat surprises how soft they are, but when she really thinks about it makes sense.

From the moment his mouth touched Bonnie's he was on fire and what began as a gentle and undemanding kiss quickly turns more urgent. His tongue meets with hers as his hands begin to roam her body moving from her waist to her hips finally stopping to grip her butt. Bonnie hisses in pleasure and moves her hands from around his neck, slipping them underneath his shirt, her fingers moving lightly up and down his muscular torso.

At the feel of Bonnie's nails raking his stomach, Stefan's cock grows almost painfully hard and he uses the grip has on her ass to lift her in the air; their groins slamming together. Though she is initially startled by the unexpected action, Bonnie still wraps her legs around his waist allowing him to carry her to the bed.

On the short walk across the room, his mouth teases hers until she breaks away to get some air. Undaunted, Stefan begins placing hot kisses to her neck only stopping when he lays her across the bed. Bonnie moves her hands to his face, her fingers moving along the sides of his face before dragging his mouth down to hers.

Once again the kiss takes a life of its own and the heat between them increases tenfold. Turned on by the taste and feel of him, Bonnie's hands move to bottom of his shirt, attempting to lift over his head. Their lips are still melded together which makes taking the shirt off somewhat difficult, but they somehow manage to pull away to make it happen.

Stefan smirks slightly when he realizes that Bonnie is distracted by his now shirtless state, but quickly forgets about that when her lips meet his again.

Soon he becomes impatient and raising himself and her up slightly, his hands pulling at clothing until both are completely nude. When he stares at her in wonder as if she were some kind of miracle, Bonnie melts.

Stefan lowers his head again, kissing her softly before asking quietly. "Are you sure?"

When Bonnie nods her head yes, he hurriedly aligns his cock at her entrance and slowly slips inside of her. Stefan inches deeper and deeper, only stopping when he gets to the hilt. Afterwards he lets out a deep growl of satisfaction that seems to accompany the sound of Bonnie's low moan of relief.

Bonnie feels as though she could melt from the heat moving through her body. The moment Stefan thrusts inside her she feels the most intense sensations and based his grunt she can tell he is feeling the same.

Snug, tight inside her, Stefan moves slowly at first, determined to experience every part of her for as long as possible. Holding her to him in a deep embrace, his mouth reaches passionately for her lips. He breaks away to drop kisses on her cheeks, neck, shoulder and chest before moving back to her mouth.

As he thrusts, he can feel her nails digging into his back, demanding that he move faster and harder inside of her. When she huskily calls out his name, Stefan is sure that it is the sexiest thing he has ever heard. Stefan would have never pictured Bonnie as a screamer, so when he hears the husky moans come from her with his every thrust, he finds himself both surprised as well as happy that he's having such an effect on her.

When Stefan pins her hips to the bed, Bonnie feels like she could explode from the pleasure. And when he lets out a groan, she slowly moves hands from his back to his ass, pulling him deeper inside of her. At the feel of Bonnie's hands gripping his ass, he further deepens his strokes, making the bed rock with his powerful thrusts.

The two continue their dance, filling the room with grunts, moans, and growls when Stefan feels Bonnie's walls lock around his shaft. When she finally climaxes around him, he feels the beginnings of his own orgasm. He thrusts a few more times before his entire body stiffens and knows there is no delaying his release. Stefan loudly groans out her name, only to collapse on top of her after he's finished.

He quickly rolls over onto his back bringing Bonnie with him so she is draped on top of him. The two lay cuddled together in silence for who knows how long, neither wanting to break the spell between them. Before Stefan knows it, he realizes that Bonnie has fallen asleep. Smiling softly, he presses a kiss to her forehead before falling asleep himself.

**Sutton, Virginia (Witches Manor) – Present Day**

Over the last week, Silas has been looking for witches powerful enough to find Bonnie's body. He has been to five different places before this one, but now that he's here he senses the high level of power they wield.

When he walks and automatically notices a group of four witches huddled together. He recognizes them as the Sandberg siblings that consist of two brothers (James and Jonathan) and two sisters (Jane and Jessica). They are all striking with their Nordic roots (blonde hair, blue eyes), yet still manage to come off as unassuming.

Done with his inspection of the witches, Silas clears his throat and all four siblings turn to look at him.

"What do you want, vampire?" James, the tall Thor-like one asks with some hostility.

The others three siblings; Jonathan, Jane, and Jessica all glare at Silas, but say nothing. Silas can't stop himself from laughing at their attempts of intimidation. If they were actually aware of how powerful he is, they would be a lot more cautious with their interactions with him. Silas walks closer to them and

"Relax; I only came because I need some help finding a body that has been magically hidden." He smiles softly in attempt to convince them to help.

"Why should we help you?' Jessica asks him while Jane looks at him disbelief.

"It would help save a lot of lives. You see, the body I need to find is one of my best friends who also happens to be a powerful witch. I'm assuming you've heard of the Bennett Witch line?" He explains, inwardly amused that they are buying the lies coming from his mouth.

They all perk up at the mention of the Bennett witch line and Silas knows that he now has their full attention.

"Of course we've heard of the Bennett line, they are one of the most powerful witch families in history." Jonathan scoffs slightly annoyed Silas' tone.

"What does the Bennett witch line have to do with this?" Jane looks at Silas in confusion.

"The friend that I told you about is a Bennett that was forced out of her body. It was hidden and for some reason my friend is unable to find it while in spirit form. We've tried all we can, but we haven't been able to find her body." He pulls out his best puppy dog Stefan look hoping that it will have the same affect on them as it does on the people in Mystic Falls.

"Why would a Bennett team up with a vampire?" James looks at him suspiciously.

"We met through a mutual friend and discovered that we both like wear White Hats."He jokes and is not surprised when they warm up to him.

"So what do we get out of out of this if we help you?"

"I can help you find a way to give your family just as much power as the Bennett line."

The siblings huddle together for a few moments before deciding on an answer. Eventually, they separate from the huddle and James shakes Silas hand in agreement. Silas smiles seemingly in gratitude, but inwardly he smiles because he knows he has no intention on fulfilling their end of the bargain.

**Limbo – Present Day**

Stefan wakes up feeing sated and automatically reaches for Bonnie expecting to feel her smaller, warm body when he realizes that her side of the bed is empty. "Bonnie?," He sits up and looks around in confusion expecting to see her somewhere else in the room, but once again comes up empty. Worried, he jumps out of the bed locating his pants on the floor and quickly slips them on.

He walks over to the door and once again attempts to open it, thinking that maybe Bonnie was able to find her way out. No sooner as the thought pops into his mind, he quickly disregards it because there is no way she would leave him here by himself. And if she did leave, she would tell him beforehand. Instead his gut is telling him that Bonnie didn't leave willingly. Just as he about make an attempt to break down the door, he feels another presence in the room and turns around.

"Emily." Stefan gasps in shock, wondering why Bonnie's ancestor is standing in front of him instead of Bonnie.

"Stefan, it's been a long time" Emily smiles softly at Stefan.

"What happened to Bonnie? Is she okay? What are you doing here"' Stefan fires off the rapid questions.

Emily smiles at his focus on her ancestor and she not for the first time wonders what would have happened had she made the deal to protect her family with him instead of Damon. Maybe things wouldn't have gotten so bad in the first place.

"You don't need to worry about Bonnie. She was sent back to the ghostly plane with Sheila." Emily explains knowing that he deserves an explanation.

"You mean you're the one who put us here? Why would you do that?" He asks in confusion, wondering why Bonnie's ancestors would trap her in limbo with him. After everything he has done, he would understand them trapping him there, but not Bonnie.

"It wasn't something we did lightly. In fact it was the last thing we wanted to do, but with Bonnie overexerting herself and you ending up in that lake we had no choice."

"What do you mean?" Stefan brow furrows.

"The two of you have enormous battle to fight and we needed you two become closer so you could be better prepared for it. Emily stares at Stefan calmly despite his obvious agitation and confusion.

"Why didn't you just tell us that?"

"When you and Bonnie first met, I had hopes that you two would form a strong bond – you two are alike in many different ways, but I never took into account the lengths you both would go for Elena Gilbert."

Stefan can hear the disappointment in Emily's voice and finches slightly because he knows that she is right. He has done a lot of terrible things in order save Elena and remembering those situations, (the coin toss with Abby and Bonnie in particular) makes him sick. And while Bonnie hasn't gone to sinister lengths for Elena, she has risked a lot for her, when she really shouldn't have.

"You have both been so busy helping Elena with her problems that the friendship you were initially forging wound up being neglected." Emily pauses briefly before continuing on. "We hoped that you would find your way back to each other, but every time you shared a significant moment, you two would move back to the status quo."

Once again Stefan can only nod in agreement.

"The reason we didn't tell you two about the bond is simple. The bond needed to be natural. If we had informed you of the situation, the bond would not be as strong. And from what I can see you two seem to have bonded a lot more than we assumed you would." She says referring to Stefan's shirtless state.

Emily softly laughs when she realizes Stefan is blushing slightly, though she doesn't say anything further about the situation.

"So what happens now?" Stefan asks attempting to change the subject from him and Bonnie back to the limbo situation.

Emily sobers before explaining what comes next, knowing that Stefan will not like finding out he has to go back his watery grave.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Sorry this chapter took so long, but for some reason it was easier to write some of the later chapters. The good news is that as a result I have Chapter 8 and most of chapter 7 written already and they should be up in the next few days.**

* * *

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Home) – Present Day**

Excited chatter fills up the room and Lucy looks around at the people that Bonnie is the closest to and inwardly shakes her head. It is very unfortunate that it literally took Bonnie's death for them to actually focus on her. Though Lucy hasn't returned to Mystic Falls since their initial meeting, Bonnie has come visit her several times over last year. It was during those visits that Lucy noticed just how much pressure was placed on the young witch. Her most recent visit had been the night of her prom. Bonnie had been upset because Elena attacked her as well as what transpired after that. It had been clear that she needed a break and Lucy had tried to give her one for at least one night. It worked, but after the next day she was back to carrying the world on her shoulders.

The room that had previously been boisterous due to shock of the Lucy's appearance goes quiet as they all watch her attempt a spell that would help them locate Bonnie's body. Lucy frowns in disappointment and Caroline automatically knows the spell was unsuccessful. "Damn it didn't work. The spell isn't powerful enough." She explains

"Well this was a waste of time." Damon is annoyed, still not understanding why they all needed to be here. This could be done without his presence.

Lucy is just about to respond to his rudeness when she freezes seemingly going into a trance. Abby realizes that it's the spirits and hopes that this will be good news.

"What is it Luce?" Abby asks once Lucy comes out of her trance.

"I found a way to find Bonnie. We have to find Stefan first."

Damon stands up straighter, his interest in the situation piqued.

**Sutton, Virginia (Sandberg Manor) – Present Day**

Silas looks on as Jane attempts another spell to locate Bonnie's body. So far they have been unsuccessful, but none of the siblings show any signs of giving up anytime soon. It is then that Silas realizes that now is the perfect time to execute his plan.

"I heard something about a spell that opens up witches' powers, so their spells are much stronger. Maybe you guys could try that one." Silas gives them his best look of innocence.

"Yeah that's risky though because it leaves us open to having our powers stolen." James looks at him suspiciously.

"I'm a vampire, it's not like I would be able to do anything with them. My friend really needs your help." He lays it on thick knowing that they are dumb enough to fall for it.

"I think we should do it." Jessica says and the other two siblings agree with her.

James nods and walks closer and begins the spell. They all close their eyes and when the room is filled with a bright light, Silas knows it's working when James yells out "We found her."

He tells Silas the body's exact whereabouts and when Silas smiles, Jane takes the opportunity to remind them of their deal.

"I did promise you that didn't I. Too bad I lied, the body you helped me find actually belongs to an enemy of mine."

James rushes towards him in anger. "What makes you think we won't kill you where you stand, Vampire."

"Because you longer have your powers." He says simply, his grin widening at their distress. The four siblings frantically attempt to use their powers.

"What did you do." James growls out angrily.

"The spell wasn't the only thing I lied about. You see, I have an extremely powerful witch on my side and she was able to absorb your powers as soon as the spell was done. You shouldn't have been so thirsty for power." He mockingly shames them.

"You won't get away with this." Jane shouts. "We'll find away to defeat you."

"No you won't." Silas looks up and shoots a beam of electricity to the large chandelier above their heads. The heavy object crashes to the ground, landing on the four siblings killing them all instantly.

"As usual you were right, Tigress. The plan worked like a charm." He says as he wipes the blood that splattered on his face upon impact of the chandeliers impact. "Now it's time for us to return to Mystic falls so we can finally be reunited."

He walks out of the manor happily, not caring one bit about the four lives he just took

**Mystic Falls (Lockwood Home) –Present Day**

From what Abby told her about the circumstances surrounding Bonnie's death, if Caroline hadn't realized something was up, this might have gone on much longer. Keeping that in mind, she turns to Caroline in order to explain, more comfortable giving her the details than Damon. Mostly because the blonde vampire is actually focused on Bonnie and also because out of everyone here Caroline is the one that is the most loyal to her cousin.

"There is a spell I can do that will help me find Stefan and that should hopefully lead us to Bonnie." She addresses Caroline knowing that Abby and Rudy focus is on Bonnie.

"Why would finding Stefan, help us find Bonnie?" Caroline asks and there are murmurs from Matt and Elena as well.

"The spirits wouldn't say why. Just that rescuing Stefan would give us the answers we need to Bonnie." Lucy exhales and begins a tracking spell. It doesn't take long for her to figure out Stefan's whereabouts. "Found him. It seems Silas trapped in a large body of water across town." She looks at the group that has crowded around her. "Does that sound familiar to anyone?"

"Yeah." Tyler is the first to respond. "There is a lake across town, but we have a couple of problems. If Stefan's down there we're going to need a boat and someone with diving experience. The water is way too deep for any of us to go down there without some reinforcements.

"I can do the diving."

"You. Seriously?" Damon scoffs. "The last thing we need is for you to kill yourself doing something you have no business doing.

"For your information," Matt bristles "I'm a certified diver, so I'm definitely qualified to dive into to get Stefan."

"When did you do that?" Jeremy slightly curious by the new information, especially if leads to Bonnie being rescued.

"Bonnie and I got certified a couple of years ago." Matt shrugs. "The only problem is I don't know where to find a boat.

"I can provide the boat. If it helps save my daughter" Rudy offers. "I have the keys right here" He pulls the keys off his keychain.

"I just need to get my diving gear from upstairs and we're good to go." He rushes past them and up the stairs to his room.

"You two should really head home while we do this." Lucy says looking at Rudy and Abby. "I know how much you want to see Bonnie, but doing this will go a lot smoother if you aren't around. "

Both want to protest, but decide that they don't want to take any chances that this spell might not work. Instead they sadly nod their heads in agreement with Lucy.

"I'll bring Bonnie back as soon as I can." She nods at them and watches as the two walk off with Tyler and Matt now carrying his scuba gear on their hills.

**Ghostly Plane – Present Day**

Sheila quietly watches as Bonnie paces back and forth, clearly lost in her own thoughts. She suspects her granddaughter's distress is about Stefan, but the younger woman has yet to say any to confirm Sheila's thoughts.

"Stefan will be fine. It's you we need to worry about." Sheila says firmly, taking pity on Bonnie.

Bonnie turns around to face her grandmother, both surprised and unsurprised that she still has the ability to read her thoughts. It's something that her Grams has always been able to do, but Bonnie still hoped to keep her thoughts of Stefan to herself. When she woke up this morning she had been in Stefan's arms and she had been torn between staying in his embrace or freaking out and getting dressed. She chose the latter and she had just managed to pull on her clothes when she was transported back to the ghostly plane. So now on top of dealing with the ramifications of spending a night with Stefan, she now has to wonder why she was transported back.

"From your tone, I'm assuming the spirits had something to do with me and Stefan going to limbo?" Bonnie raises an eyebrow knowingly.

Sheila nods and explains about the bond Stefan and Bonnie need to have and the battle the two will have ahead of them.

"Why not just tell us about the battle in the first place?" Bonnie asks somewhat irked.

"If the spirits told you about the battle, you two wouldn't have bonded naturally and the bond between you would not have been as strong."

At Sheila's mention of the bond, Bonnie's stomach drops. She can't help, but wonder if the spirits were responsible for her night with Stefan. She had already been worried that their night together was just cabin fever, but now she wonders if happened because of her ancestors' interference.

Before Bonnie can continue to wallow in those depressing thoughts, Sheila once again seems to read her mind. "The bond you and Stefan forged together would have happened regardless of the spirits' interference. Being trapped together only sped up the inevitable."

"How do you do that?" Bonnie asks slightly in awe. "How do you always seem to know what I'm thinking? Do you have some special power I don't know about or something?"

"No special powers. I just know you. " Sheila chuckles in amusement before sobering back up. "Speaking of knowing you, we have a lot of ground to cover before we get you back to the land of living."

Sheila walks over to Bonnie and grabs both her hands. She carefully recites a spell and soon the two women are surrounded by a bright light. Bonnie eyes close in reaction the bright light shining in them. In contrast, she eyes stay wide open, seemingly unaffected by the lights. Eventually the bright light putters out Sheila lets go of Bonnie's hands, but says nothing.

"What's going on?" Bonnie looks at her in confusion, wondering why she suddenly feels a lot more powerful.

"I did the spell that Qetsiyah originally intended for herself. As a result your powers are now enhanced and once you are resurrected you will be immortal."

Bonnie gasps in shock, her mind going into overdrive. The enhancement of her powers isn't all that overwhelming, but she does think the immortality is a big deal. It means that she'll never have a normal life again. She will never get the opportunity to grow old. She might not ever have chance to get married or have children and if she did she would likely out live them. On the other hand, she would have something in common with her friends. And if she did happen to get involved with someone who was also happened to be immortal, she would never have to worry about growing old while they stayed eternally young. Not that she's thinking of a specific person, but it would be a mark in the plus column.

"You can still be killed of course, but it would be much more difficult. You're getting a second chance at life, Bonnie. I would advise you not to waste that by sacrificing yourself for everyone the way you have in the past." Sheila's voice takes on a warning tone.

"Okay."Bonnie nods in agreement, silently remembering the similar conversation she and Stefan had when they were in limbo. She knows that she can longer keep putting everyone before her or she will end up in the same position she is currently in the process of getting out of. "So what do we do now?"

"We've done all we can on this side, now it is up those on Earthly plane to complete the process." She walks closer to Bonnie wrapping an arm around her shoulder "I know you will keep working on the side of good, but I want you to promise me that you'll also try to find some happiness as well." She smiles softly at Bonnie and Bonnie smiles back somewhat sadly.

"I promise…. I'm going to miss you so much, Grams." Bonnie shifts into Sheila's arms for a hug.

"I'll always be with you, looking after you."

Sheila pulls Bonnie into a tighter embrace, happy that things will finally begin to work out for her granddaughter.

**Lake – Present Day**

Finding Stefan in the lake doesn't actually take that much time with Matt's expert diving and soon they have him back on the boat. Stefan begins to stir and everyone watches on anxiously.

"Bonnie." Stefan murmurs her name several more times before his eyes abruptly open. He struggles to sit up and eventually Caroline takes pity on him and helps him. Once up he looks around and notices that he's looking into the concerned faces of Elena, Matt, and Tyler. Damon attempts to hide his concern while Jeremy frowns at the fact that Stefan first word upon regaining consciousness is Bonnie's name.

"Stefan, are you okay?" Elena asks in concern. She really wants to reach for a hug, but she knows Damon would not be okay with that.

"I need to get to Bonnie." He blurts out and Elena flinches slightly hurt that he seemingly ignored her question.

"I hate to break it to you little brother, but witchy is no longer on the land of living." Damon is not one for tact so he is unfazed by the glares he receives in response.

Lucy is just about to give him an aneurysm when she notices the look on Stefan's face. "You know where her body is don't you. She asks calmly addressing the weakened vampire.

"Yeah. I do." Stefan looks at her his eyes slightly cloudy, but no less intense remembering his conversation with Emily.

_Stefan only has to take one look at Emily's face to know he will have to go back to being trapped underwater. "You're sending me back aren't you?" He says resignedly._

_"Stefan, I really wish it didn't have to be this way, but we were only allowed to ease your situation a bit by pulling your spirit to limbo. The rest is up to your friends and family."_

_"What about Bonnie? How does she get brought back to life?" Helping him is all good and well, but it will mean nothing if Bonnie isn't around as well._

_"The only thing I'm allowed to you about Bonnie is where her body has been hidden"_

_"And where is that?"….._

"Bonnie's body is in the cave where she died." He says as he comes out of his memories. "Emily said that the sprits thought hiding it there would be less obvious." He attempts to stand up, but his body he's weakened and he promptly falls back down.

"Stefan, I think you need to rest and leave the rescuing of Bonnie to us." Caroline says quietly before lightly pushing the obviously weakened vampire back into his sitting position. Inwardly, Caroline is happy that

"No!" his voice is slurred, yet determined, "You either help me or I'm going on my own. Either way I'm going to be there when Bonnie is brought back. I made a promise to her and I plan on keeping it." And with that he makes another attempt to stand up and aside from a few moments of staggering, is successful this time.

When he is finally steady on this feet, he stares determinedly at Caroline until she nods; giving into his challenge. "Ok, let's go rescue Bonnie." She smiles weakly at him. She is still worried, but realizes that he's a bit too weak for the rescue attempt, but realizes this is obviously something he needs to do.

Without another word, Stefan makes his way to Matt's vehicle, not giving any one else a second glance. Tyler and Matt both run after him both knowing that he's a bit too weak to last on his feet for very long his own.

"Well I don't know about you, but since it looks like the judgmental goody two shoes duo will be fine, I'm gonna go home and relax. Want to join me? "Damon's grins at Elena, only to grimace in pain when he feels daggers of pain shoot through his head. He looks up to see Lucy staring down at him angrily.

"Talk about Bonnie like one more time, I dare you." Lucy stops using her powers on him and she too walks toward where the cars are parked.

"Typical. " Caroline rolls her eyes at him and mutters under her breath before she follows behind Lucy.

Damon stands up and sighs when he notices Elena frowning at him. "What?"

"How could you insult Bonnie like that?"

"Relax, it's not like she's staying dead. She'll be back to annoying me and vice versa in no time." He shrugs apologetically. Not understanding why everyone is acting like Bonnie will stay dead. Jeremy is proof enough of that. "Are you coming with or not?"

"Damon, If you don't want to go fine, but I'm going to see my best friend." Elena glares at him and wraps an arm around Jeremy before they both walk off leaving Damon completely alone.

He glances at the boat that is still sitting in the dirt. His voice takes on a sarcastic edge. "Well obviously, getting the boat back safe and sound has been left to me.

**Mystic Falls (Cave) – Present Day**

As soon as Caroline and Lucy get to the cave they realize that is Stefan holding Bonnie's body in his arms while Matt and Tyler look. Lucy did the spell on the way to cave knowing that with Stefan's determination that he would be the first to find her. Elena and Jeremy are the last to walk in and both seem shocked by the sight.

"Is it safe for him to be holding her like that?" Jeremy asks both in concern and annoyance because he hadn't thought of it first.

"It's fine" Lucy dismisses Jeremy's concerns partially because of the angry glare Stefan leveled at the boy.

Lucy does the spell and they watch as bright light engulfs Bonnie and Stefan. It blinks out and the group waits eagerly for Bonnie to wake up. Stefan continues holding onto her despite the curious looks the others keep shooting him.

Finally Bonnie stirs, her eyes blinking open and the first thing she sees are Stefan's eyes watching her worriedly.

"Welcome back." Stefan says softly and Bonnie smiles softly at him. She can't believe they actually managed to get through all of this in one piece.

"Bonnie, you're okay." Bonnie hears Elena's voice and her soft smile turns into a frown. She attempts to shake herself from Stefan's arms, and a slightly disappointed Stefan reluctantly lets her go. Bonnie stands up and instantly flooded with hugs from everyone. Several versions of I miss you flood the cave and when Caroline pulls her into another hug, Bonnie can't hold back her teary laughter.

"I hate to interrupt this, but I should get you home. Rudy and Abby will be anxious to see you." Lucy looks at Bonnie who finally breaks away from Caroline's tight hug.

"Just give me a few moments with Stefan." She hints.

"We'll be in the car." Lucy nods and makes her way out of the cave along with the others, leaving Bonnie and Stefan alone.

"I'm glad you're okay." Stefan moves closer to Bonnie. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"What exactly did Emily tell you, I know you talked to her." Bonnie knows they have a lot to discuss, but knows only will be enough for now.

"She told me about a bond and mentioned a battle that we needed to be prepared for, but she didn't say much else. What about you? I know you talked to you Sheila, what did she have to say?"

"Well for starters, she enhanced my powers and made me immortal?" Bonnie shrugs as if it isn't a big deal.

"Wow that's…" He doesn't know what to say about that bit of information. He expected the enhancement, but not the immortality. It makes him wonder just how long this battle is supposed to last. The rest of him however is ecstatic that she will be in his life for as long as possible.

"Yeah I guess that means you guys will all be stuck with me for a while." She grins at him.

Stefan smiles back and suddenly he becomes anxious to pull her into his arms. When he attempts to do so, she pulls back.

"What happened between us was the other thing I wanted to talk about." Bonnie sighs not wanting to do so, but knowing it was for the best. "I think we should leave that night we spent together back in limbo and pretend like it never happened."

"Why? That night was amazing." Stefan frowns, confused by her sudden change in demeanor.

"We both know that night would have never happened if we hadn't been stuck together. We wouldn't have wanted to jeopardize past relationships." Bonnie explains softly, referring to his relationship with Elena. She had seriously considered starting something when she woke up earlier in the cave wrapped in Stefan's arms. However, after hearing Elena's voice she knew that it would be a bad idea to start something with Stefan because it would only be a matter of time before Stefan's focus went back to Elena.

Stefan had intended on fighting for her, but hearing discuss old relationships makes him realize that she obviously in love with Jeremy. It makes sense; she did die trying to bring him back to life. As much as he wants to be with Bonnie, he wants her to be happy even more. If being with Jeremy will make her happy then he'll back off.

"Maybe you're right." Is all he manages to say before looking away. As a result he misses the resigned look that Bonnie gives him.

"We can still be friends though." Both attempt a smile and Bonnie finds herself in an unexpected hug. The hug lasts longer than intended, neither of them wanting to let go.

It ends when they hear Caroline's voice. "We really need to get going guys."

And with that, they walk of out of the cave together, both inwardly disappointed by the turn of events.

Across the way in another portion of the cave, stand Silas and Qetsiyah locked in a passionate embrace. Silas had been angry that Stefan managed to get to Bonnie's body before he could, but in the end they managed to work it out by using the Sandberg witches powers. As a result they were able to create a replica of her body. Though not quite as powerful, it is still immortal.

Now that they are together, the only thing they have to worry about is defeating their doppelgangers. And they will be defeated no matter how long it takes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Mystic Falls (Mystic Grill) – Present Day**

Jeremy had hoped that after she was resurrected that they would already be back together, but he's barely seen her in the last week because she has spent the majority of the week with her family. Understandable, but it makes him all the more anxious to see her which is why he suggested they meet at the Mystic Grill to talk.

Jeremy looks up from his phone when he hears the sound of the chair being pulled out. "Hey, Stranger." He smiles at Bonnie happy to finally have the chance to see her alone

"Hey." Bonnie smiles weakly before she sits down nervously. She knows that Jeremy asked her to meet her because he's hoping for them to get back together and she isn't quite sure how to tell him that things have changed since her _death_.

"So, I know you've been spending time with your folks and I think that's great, but I feel like I haven't seen you all that much since you've gotten back." Jeremy's voice takes on a wistful tone.

"Yeah, I felt like I needed that time with them. It has been nice having both of them and Lucy around without having deal with supernatural stuff." Bonnie smiles slightly thinking of the past week with her family.

"I'm glad, but there is a reason I asked you here. I think we were in the process of getting back together before everything went down." He smiles. "And now that everything is back to normal, I think we should talk about getting back together."

He frowns when he reaches for Bonnie's hand across the table and she pulls away.

"Jeremy, I can't get back together with you." Bonnie's voice is strangely calm despite knowing the fallout this will cause.

"What's going on, Bonnie?" I thought were going to move past what happened with Anna? How long are you going to continue to punish me for one little mistake?" He had been trying to fix things ever since they broke up and he thought that she had finally forgiven him enough to give them another chance.

"I have moved past it." Bonnie's voice rises slightly annoyed by the insinuation that she is trying to punish him. "This has nothing to do with Anna. I forgave you for that a long time ago." Bonnie eyes are fierce with annoyance, though she attempts to soften her gaze knowing that this is hurting him.

"What other reason could you possibly have for this?" Jeremy asks angrily.

"I care about you Jer, I really do, but only as a friend." And she does care about him. She has to admit that there is a part of her that wishes she did still have those feelings because it would make it a lot easier to move on and distance herself from that night with Stefan. But the rest of her is glad because she knows they aren't right for each other.

"How could your feelings for me have changed so fast? It's only been a month."

"That's just it," She pauses to hone in her anger before continuing on "For me it hasn't only been a month. When I was in limbo, time moved faster there. What was a month for you were actually several months for me. I had a lot of time to think and I really believe that us getting back together would have been a mistake." Bonnie knows that they would have eventually broken up had they gotten the chance to reunite earlier. It just would have taken much longer (and a lot more painful) for her to come to the realization.

"Why?" Is the only word Jeremy is able to get out. Shocked by the turn this meeting has taken.

"I think we were both clinging to the past and what was familiar. In a way I'm glad it happened. Don't get me wrong, I will always appreciate what we had, but I think we should leave it in the past." She squeezes his fist for a brief moment. "I'm sorry if that hurts you"

"Maybe you're right." Not believing that one bit. He knows they are meant for each other, he just has to figure out a way to get Bonnie to see that as well.

X

Bonnie leaves not too long after that and Jeremy continues to sit at the table, trying to figure out where everything went wrong. He is jolted out of his thoughts when he hears Damon clear his throat.

"What do you want, Damon?" His asks the vampire already annoyed by his presence.

"Wow. Touchy aren't we." His usual smirk in place. "What's with the constipated look?" Normally Damon wouldn't care, but he's bored and taking an interest in Jeremy will win him some points with Elena.

Jeremy hesitantly explains the situation with Bonnie to Damon and is surprised when he actually comes up with a solution.

"I think you should find someone else to date. Show witchy that you can move on too and she'll eventually come to her senses, most women do."

"You know, you're idea is actually pretty good." Jeremy blurts out slightly surprised as he'd assumed it would be an awful idea.

"Of course it is." Damon's voice takes on an arrogant tone and Jeremy laughs because Damon of all people has given him a way to win Bonnie back.

**Mystic Falls (Bonnie's Bedroom) – Present Day**

**_Later that Night_**

Bonnie tosses and turns in her bed unable to fall asleep. She's not sure what it is, but ever since she's come back from limbo she has been unable to get a full night of sleep. On her next shift in the bed she hears a loud tapping against her window. Startled, she looks up cautiously only to sigh in relief when she realizes that it is Stefan. She quickly walks over to the window, mindful of her mother's enhanced hearing.

"Hey." Stefan whispers, his voice slightly rough when he finally gets a good look at her. Bonnie is wearing a pair of boxer shorts and tank top, her legs and arms showcased to perfection without trying. Her hair is slightly rumpled, but she's still the most beautiful woman he's ever seen.

"Stefan? What are you doing here? It's 2am and my parents are right downstairs." She hisses at him.

"I know, that's why I came through your window." He grins widely and Bonnie is unable to fight returning his infectious grin. He really does have a great smile and seeing it always makes her stomach flutter.

"That's nice and all,but you still haven't answered my question." She persists despite the amusement she is feeling.

"I couldn't sleep. Actually I haven't really slept all that much since we got back." Stefan looks at her intensely his eyes strangely bright considering his lack of sleep.

"And you thought knocking on my window in the middle of the night was the best way to remedy that?" Bonnie's voice takes a sarcastic edge.

"I wanted to test a theory." Stefan walks closer to Bonnie, inwardly grinning when he realizes the effect his proximity has on her.

"What theory is that?" Bonnie's voice is slightly out of breath.

"That we have gotten used sleeping in the same room when we were stuck in limbo and because of that we have been having trouble this last week."

"What makes you think I'm having any problems sleeping?" Bonnie scoffs at his assumption, despite knowing that he's right. He doesn't need to know that she misses his comforting presence –the safety he provided for her or the feel of his hard body against her.

"I could mention the dark circles under your eyes, but I have feeling you would kick my ass if I did, so I won't mention them." He jokes and is unsurprised when punches his shoulder. "Seriously though, I could hear you tossing and turning before I knocked on the window." He shrugs.

"Okay you're right, I can't sleep either. So what exactly do you want to do about it?"

"Try and sleep." He lies on the bed and Bonnie only hesitates briefly before lying beside him. And within a few minutes vampire and witch have both fallen asleep.

X

As they have done the past few nights, Abby and Rudy check on Bonnie. They expect her to be tossing and turning as she has the previous nights, but Abby can hear based on her slower breathing that she is actually asleep.

Still, when they open the door to make sure, they are surprised when they see Stefan and Bonnie lying in her bed fast asleep, Bonnie is enclosed in Stefan's arms and her head resting on his shoulder. Rudy makes an attempt to rush over to the sleeping couple, but Abby stops him. Rudy looks at her curiously and Abby explains her reason for stopping him.

"It's the first time she's really slept since she's come back and I'm guessing the same goes for him. They clearly could use the sleep, so I don't see any harm with letting them get some rest."

"Why would a vampire need our daughter to help him fall asleep?" Rudy frowns perplexedly.

"It makes sense, considering what they have both been through together. She clearly trusts him and he did help bring her back. So maybe we should trust her judgment on this one." Abby looks up at Rudy pleadingly and Rudy finds himself slightly distracted by the look on his face.

"Okay, but we definitely won't be making a habit of this." He decides to let it go and the two of them head out of the room closing the door behind them.

**Mystic Falls (Forbes Home) – Present Day**

A few days later, Bonnie finds herself sandwiched between her two best friends on Caroline's bed for a sleepover. It had been Elena's idea for the sleepover to celebrate Bonnie's return to the living, but having it at the boardinghouse was impossible due to the presence of Jeremy and Damon. And having the sleepover at Bonnie's place was also out of the question because Rudy is still uncomfortable with the idea of inviting Elena in. So in the end they decided on Caroline's place since it was the quietest at the moment.

They spent the first hour talking about Bonnie's decision to keep her death from them. After Bonnie explained her reasons for doing so and acknowledged how bad of idea it had been. She assured them that she wouldn't do anything like that again. That eventually led to a discussion about her time and in limbo with Stefan and while Bonnie didn't reveal much, it had been clear that she and Stefan had gotten to know each other very well.

Hours later, their conversation eventually turned to the guys in their lives. They talked about Damon (much to the consternation of Bonnie and Caroline) and Tyler (which had actually been interesting). Naturally the conversation turned to Jeremy and Bonnie found herself having to explain why she and her ex had not gotten back together like they all assumed.

"I don't get it," Elena says been bites of popcorn. "I really thought you guys were on the verge of getting back together right before everything went down." Much like her brother, she had assumed the two of them would be attached by the hip by now and had been happy about the potential news.

"I just don't feel that way about him anymore. Spending time so much time away made realize that I moved on" Bonnie explains hoping that neither of friends notices her that she is holding back. She knows she can't tell them that part of the reason her feelings have changed is because she fell for Stefan.

Caroline and Elena glance at each other both knowing that Bonnie is holding something back, but decide not to address it at the moment. Sensing Bonnie's apparent urgency to change topics, Caroline decides to help her friend out.

"So with all that's been going on we haven't had a chance to talk about Whitmore." The three of them decided months ago before everything went down that they would room share a dorm suite together. They will each have their own room, but the three of them will share a bathroom and a few other amenities. They had initially been planning on living a triple room, but realized that they probably would have wanted to kill each other if they had.

"It's hard to believe that next month we'll be starting college." Bonnie is both grateful for the change in topic and excitedly begins talking about the upcoming month, Caroline and Elena both happy to join her in the discussion.

**Mystic Falls (Bar) – Present Day**

With her job rescuing Bonnie and the week spent visiting her younger cousin coming to an end; Lucy decided that she would have a drink before she left down. She had already said her goodbyes to Bonnie (and Abby) and had promised to call once she got back home.

Sitting at the bar, the last person, Lucy expects to run into at this seemingly run down old bar is Katherine. The former vampire sits down next to her, ordering a drink when the bartender makes her way over to them. Annoyed, she ignores the woman's presence intent on finishing her drink in piece before she leaves Mystic Falls.

"Oh come on Luce, there's no reason to be like that?" Katherine rolls her eyes and pouts mockingly at the other woman's behavior.

"Considering what happened the last time I was in town, I would say there's plenty of reason for me to be like that. What the hell do you want?"

"I'm sure you can tell that I was turned human." Katherine says the words with such disdain that Lucy is unable to stop her laughter. Katherine has to be one of the few people that would be this upset about being turned human.

"Yeah, I heard about that." She asks between laughs. "What exactly does you being turned human have to do with me?"

"I want you to find some kind of spell to reverse this madness." Katherine's voice rises slightly, glaring at someone of the other customers when they look her way..

"And you actually think I would help you after what happened that last time I was town? Why don't you just find a vampire to help you? I'm sure you could find one that's willing." Lucy looks at the other woman, wondering what she might have planned. She knows that despite being human, Katherine is still dangerous because of how long she's been around.

Katherine smirks before leaning in closer to Lucy. "We both know me being sired to another vampire would lessen my power. My best bet is getting this reversed with a spell. As for why, I came to you, Bonnie made a deal with me before her death" She uses air quotes on the word death. "The way I see it, this would be you picking up her slack."

"Don't try that crap with me. I know about the deal she made and from what I heard, Qetsiyah was the one that screwed you over. Besides, wouldn't the fact that Silas is walking around right now as we speak void your so-called deal." She grins sardonically at the other woman. "I'm not helping you. You're going to have to find way to get out of this mess by yourself." Lucy stands up. "Now if you'll excuse me."

Katherine watches in annoyance as Lucy saunters out of the bar leaving her alone. "Well, it looks like me and Bon-Bon are going to need to have a little meeting." She drains the drink she ordered before walking out of the bar as well.

**New York (Hotel Room) – Present Day**

Qetsiyah lounges happily in the bed watching as Silas slips out of the bed completely nude. After being separated for over two thousand years, they have spent the majority of their time making love. She had not forgotten how insatiable he could be and was glad that time didn't change that detail. After their reunion in the caves, they decided it would best for them to leave Mystic Falls so they could regroup. It wouldn't do them any good to stay around with their doubles after them. They eventually decided on coming to New York because there are a lot of magical communities they could take advantage of.

He grins at her as he walks backs over with the grimoire that he took from the Sandberg "I figured this would be useful in our attempts to eliminate our doubles." He hands it to her before slipping back in the bedside her. She skims the book

"It will do for now." She smiles at him. Part of her is sadden that she will have to kill family, but she wants the power that killing Bonnie will give her and Silas more than she cares about preserving her family line.


	8. Chapter 8

**Mystic Falls (Stefan's Home) – Present Day**

Stefan slips on a blue button down shirt and is getting ready to button it when he hears a knock at the door. When he gets to the door he is slightly surprised to see Bonnie standing there holding a grimoire.

"Hey." Bonnie smiles at him in greeting. She then takes notice of his unbuttoned shirt; her eyes drawn to the exposed skin of his torso. Just looking at him makes her remember how great it felt to be tangled up with him and the heat rises within her. Attempting to shake her head of those thoughts, Bonnie concentrates on the reason she came in the first place.

"Hey. I wasn't expecting you so soon." He adds realizing how the first part sounds. "Not that I'm not happy to see you." Happy to see her would be an understatement. The moment he opened the door and realized it was Bonnie, the blood rushed straight to his cock and now he's finding it difficult to take his eyes off of her. She's wearing a patterned sundress and he briefly thinks back to the day he asked her to make Caroline a day walker ring. She had been wearing something similar back then and though he had been seeing Elena at the time, he remembers noticing how beautiful she looked surrounded by the sunlight.

It has been a month since they've gotten out of limbo and his feelings for her have only increased. They've hung out as friends quite bit and while he had hoped just being in contact with her would be enough, he finds himself falling deeper for her. Today they were all meeting to form a plan that will take out a vampire that has recently come to town. Taking him out shouldn't be too much trouble, but they figured it was better to be fully prepared.

"Nice place." Bonnie looks around as Stefan directs her through the living room house and into the dining room. This is the first time she has seen his new place. Since they have only really hung out together in public settings this last month. Which she is now realizing was probably a good thing considering the desire that is running through her at the moment.

"Yeah." Stefan says distractedly his eyes too busy focusing on the curve of her ass to pay attention to anything else.

Bonnie turns around abruptly and blushes slightly when she looks into his eyes and realizes where his gaze had previously been. Stefan meets her stare head on seemingly unembarrassed by his actions.

"So cleaning up after Silas had to suck." She remembers hearing from Caroline that Silas had been leaving in Stefan's home while they were gone. Bonnie had been slightly grossed out until Caroline mentioned and that she and Matt had spent the next day helping Stefan disinfecting the place.

"Yeah, it took a lot of work, but better than living with his filth. He was really messy." Stefan grimaces jokingly and Bonnie smirks, knowing how much of a neat freak Stefan can be at times.

Unconsciously, the two move closer to each other until there are only a few feet of space between them. They continue to heatedly staring at each other, the temperature rising in the room. Without warning, Stefan catches her face between his hands and crushes his mouth to hers. And it is just as amazing as he as he remembers, all he could hope for and long for. He deepens the kiss needing to get closer relishing in the feel of her lips on his.

Bonnie gasps, and reflexively grabs for his arms. Feeling his hard muscles flex underneath her palms, she attempts to find the willpower to push him away. She had been trying for weeks to push her thoughts of him out of her mind, but she hasn't had any luck. His lips are so soft, so warm, and not to mention more tempting than anyone's should be allowed. She trembles as his tongue briefly traces her lips before he slips it back inside her mouth with so much passion that she can feel the wetness between her thighs increase.

The two of them kiss frantically for several moments until the next thing either of them knows, Bonnie's hands are fumbling with his zipper and his erection is freed. Seconds later, Stefan has her draped across the large dining room table, her dress pushed up to her waist. He then pushes her panties aside and penetrates her with one powerful thrust. When he finally bottoms out inside of her Stefan thinks about how amazing it feels. He knew he had missed her, but to actually experience this with her once again made him realize he just how much he needs her.

Bonnie moans in satisfaction, her walls clenching tightly around his shaft. It's as if her body is picking up where they left of that day they spent together in limbo. She had never felt anything like that before and now that they are here again; she knows that it wasn't a fluke.

"I missed you so much." he confesses as his hips pump and then rotate. "You missed me too, didn't you?" The question comes out of his mouth as a statement. Instead of answering Bonnie shudders with pleasure, her walls tightening around his shaft. It is then Stefan realizes that he has never had sex this hot. He has to admit that there was a part of him that wondered if the time they spent together in limbo had been because of where they were than anything else, but now he knows that it wasn't. That it is because of the connection they have to each other. Soon he feels her tense around him and he speeds up his trusts quickly bringing both of them to an orgasm simultaneously.

He collapses on top of her; his head finding its way to her collarbone. Bonnie shudders, partially because of the aftershocks and partially because of the soft kisses Stefan is currently pressing to her neck. Bonnie sighs at the feel of his lips against her neck and involuntary she shifts a bit. She is unsurprised when she feels Stefan's erection harden slightly and the need quickly flairs up in her again.

Stefan growls when her walls tighten around his shaft and he hardens slightly. When he removes his lips from her neck and gets a look at the sultry look on her face, his cock hardens even more. Just when he thinks they are on their way to another round, there is a knock on the door. He groans in annoyance, but he still manages to slowly pull away from her and quickly refasten his pants.

As if she were suddenly broken from a trance, Bonnie quickly jumps up from the table, readjusting her own clothes as well as picking up the grimoire that had previously been forgotten about. In her peripheral vision, she can see him quickly button his shirt up and it suddenly hits her that she just had sex with Stefan. Again. It was already difficult trying to forget what happened between them in limbo, but she is unsure if she will be able to do it this time. Unable to deal with those right now she begins looking through her grimoire in order to avoid looking at Stefan.

Stefan sighs sadly when he realizes Bonnie is avoiding him, but with the knocking becoming more incessant, he knows addressing her avoidance will have to wait until after the meeting is over. He rushes through the house to the front door. He attempts to adjust his pants before he opens the door, but he knows that nothing will truly camouflage the large bulge in his pants. He can only hope no one notices.

When he finally pulls the door open he sees a suspicious Caroline along with Matt, Tyler, as well as an unexpected Jeremy. When they called this meeting, Stefan had assumed Jeremy wouldn't be attending since Elena and Damon were out of town and he has a tendency to avoid going to meetings when Elena isn't around. When Jeremy attempts to look around Stefan, obviously searching for someone it suddenly makes sense. Jeremy only came to see Bonnie. As a result Stefan is unable to rein in the slight flood jealously that runs through him at thought of Jeremy with Bonnie even after what just happened between them. Especially considering that Jeremy is more than likely the reason Bonnie is pulling away from him.

"Come on in."He greets them, temporarily shaking his head of his jealousy filled thoughts. He opens the door wider and steps aside so the four of them can come in.

Caroline is the first to walk in and is while she unsurprised to Bonnie sitting at the table, she is surprised to smell Bonnie's signature scent on Stefan when he walks past her and takes a seat across from Bonnie. Bonnie does her best job at pretending not to notice and Caroline wonders what that is all about. Suspicious, she decides to sit next to her best friend who looks up and smiles at her in greeting before turning back to study her grimoire.

Tyler opts to sit next and across from Caroline. Before Jeremy can rush to sit next to Bonnie, Caroline hints consciously to Matt and he takes that seat instead, leaving Jeremy to sit across from him and next to Stefan. This way she is able to observe both of them and figure out what exactly happened between the two of them without the distraction of Bonnie's ex-boyfriend.

And not long after that the meeting begins.

X

An hour later the meeting is over and the others rush out. Jeremy is the first to go, clearly disappointed that Bonnie barely noticed him at the meeting. Matt and Tyler are the next to leave after Caroline tells Tyler to go on without her, hinting that she needs to talk to Stefan. He gives her his keys, deciding to catch a ride with Matt.

Meanwhile, Stefan watches as Bonnie rushes out of his house and into her car. He is so engrossed in watching Bonnie leave; he fails to notice that Caroline is still there watching him with curiosity.

"Ok, spill it." Caroline demands bluntly. The last hour has been spent observing her two friends behavior and now that she has Stefan alone she wants some answers.

"I thought you left with the others." Stefan turns around quickly, obviously surprised by her presence. "And spill what exactly?" He had been intending on rushing after Bonnie, but with Caroline still there, he knows that will have to wait.

"You were so busy watching Bonnie, that you wouldn't have noticed a spaceship if it landed right in front of you. So I ask once again, what's going on with you two?" She had noticed the eye sex between them several times during the meeting and when they weren't doing that they were avoiding looking at each other altogether. Though, she notes that the avoidance was mostly from Bonnie's side.

Stefan briefly wonders if he should reveal what happened between Bonnie and him in limbo, since Bonnie seemed intent on keeping it a secret. But he quickly decides that after what just happened between the two them today, he needs to talk to someone about the situation. And who better than Bonnie's best friend.

"Do you remember when we talked about at prom? When you told me that I would fall for someone other than Elena?" He asks softly

"Yeah?" Caroline nods remembering that conversation they had months ago.

Stefan says nothing in response and instead gives her a meaningful look that conveys everything he has been feeling for the last several months.

"Oh my God!" Caroline's eyes widen in surprise. "You mean you're-"

"I'm in love with Bonnie." Stefan blurts out; happy to finally be able to tell someone, even if it isn't the person that needs to hear it the most.

Caroline stands there frozen in shock, her mind going into overdrive thinking about everything that's happened in the last month. The closer relationship the two have had since they got back, his steely determination on rescuing Bonnie, not to mention his slightly hostile behavior towards Jeremy. She assumed the latter was because of Elena, but now it's obvious that it's because of the younger Gilbert's past relationship with Bonnie.

"I'm guessing this happened during your time together in limbo?" She looks at him knowingly.

"Yeah, we got really close while we were there." Stefan vaguely admits, not wanting reveal the details of the night they spent together.

"And is she the reason why you stayed herein Mystic Falls?" She had assumed he stayed because he was secretly hoping that Elena would change her mind, but now she thinks it was more than likely because of her best friend.

"Definitely, but I also stayed because being around Elena no longer has an effect on me." Caroline looks up in shock and Stefan begins to explain further. "The moment I came back I knew that I was over her and that I had fallen in love with Bonnie"

As he explains, Caroline begins to smile happy for her two friends before remembering Bonnie's quick exit.

"I guess that explains why you both reek of sex, but it doesn't explain why she rushed out of here like the place was on fire."

Stefan blushes slightly before sobering up. "I'm not sure either. I pulled back when we first got back because I thought that's what she wanted. I know she feels something for me, but she keeps pulling away from me. The only thing I can think of is that it's because of her feelings for Jeremy." He looks down sadly.

Caroline doubts that Jeremy is the reason Bonnie is pulling away. In fact, she suspects that another Gilbert is the problem, but she knows that Bonnie should be the one to reveal that. "You know what I think? I think you need to be honest about your feelings. So you know either way."

"I know" Stefan agrees. "I was actually planning on going after her, but _someone_ interrupted me." He directs at her pointedly.

"Not my fault you were being so obvious." She throws back at him, her trademark grin in place before taking on a more subdued tone "I think you should give some Bonnie time to think." She sighs, "Rushing after her, so soon probably won't workout in your favor." They both pause thinking of Jeremy's attempts to get Bonnie back after he cheated with Anna. "If I know Bonnie, she'll come to you and that is when you should lay everything on the line."

"Ok, I'll wait, but if she doesn't come I'm going after her."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, but I don't think you'll have to wait very long. Oh and just so you know if all this works out between you and Bonnie, you better not break her heart or I will kick your ass." Caroline says goodbye after that and gets into her car. Once she is enclosed in the car, she pulls out her cell phone and pushes a number on her speed dial.

"Bonnie it's me, I really need to talk to you. I'll meet you at your house in a half hour. Bye"

She and Bonnie needed to have a little talk if Caroline's want her prediction to Stefan about Bonnie not making him wait long to her to come true.

**Mystic Falls (Mystic Grill) – Present Day**

Jeremy sighs as he picks up the meal that he ordered. Bonnie ignored him completely during the meeting. He had only gone in the first place because he knew she would be there and he had hoped that he could make some progress in his plan to get her back. He is still baffled as to what changed between them in the last year. Before their deaths and subsequent resurrections, he thought that they were on the path to reconciliation, but now she seems against it.

Maybe Damon was right and he should move on for a while with someone else. Maybe having him suddenly unavailable will make her decide that they are meant for each other. As if conjured, he sees Hannah, the girl he had the blind date with walk through the doors.

When their eyes meet she smiles and he takes as a cue to walk over to her.

"Hi, Jeremy." She greets him.

"Hi, Hannah. Funny running into you here." He laughs nervously "You know, I was actually planning on calling you."

"Really?"She asks slightly skeptical.

"Yeah, I know the date we had before with my sister and her boyfriend was kind of a bust, but I was hoping we could do it again. I was dealing with something back then, but now I'm doing a lot better. I would love to make it up to you. So what do you say?" He grins charmingly at her.

"I say you should start by buying my dinner." Hannah moves closer to him.

"Okay." He sees her smile and thinks that Damon's idea is actually brilliant because he'll have the pleasure of being around another beautiful woman before he gets Bonnie back.

**Mystic Falls (Bonnie's Bedroom) – Present Day**

It doesn't take very long for Caroline to make it over to Bonnie's and when she opens the door to her bedroom she sees Bonnie staring at the ceiling, obviously lost in thought.

"You and I need to have a little talk." Caroline decides to pull no punches as she lies down next to Bonnie on the bed.

"You said as much on the phone." Bonnie turns her head to give the blonde vampire her attention. Truth be told, she could really use the distraction from what just happened to between her and Stefan. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"You and Stefan" Caroline gives Bonnie a meaningful glance and Bonnie realizes that her plan not to think about Stefan is already shot to hell.

"What about me and Stefan?" Bonnie plays dumb, hoping that Caroline hasn't figured out what's been happening between them.

"Um I don't know…" Caroline's turns voice acerbic "How about the fact that both of you reeked of sex by the time the rest of us made it to Stefan's place. Or the eye sex that you two kept having throughout the meeting. Or the way –"

"Okay, okay. I get the picture." Bonnie interrupts her. "You don't have to keep going." She blushes briefly.

"So why are you here staring at your ceiling, instead of basking in the afterglow of your first time together by having more amazing sex with Stefan." And Caroline has no doubt that it would be amazing based on the heat she noticed between them today. Not to mention how tightly wound they both could be. She has a feeling when that if they truly let loose, great things could happen.

"Today wasn't the first time we slept together. We spent the night together when we were trapped in limbo." Bonnie admits quickly.

"Wow." Caroline's jaw drops in shock. She knew Stefan was holding back on what happened between him and Bonnie, but she had no idea it was this. When she takes a closer look at Bonnie she realizes that she looks upset.

"Seriously, Bonnie…" She grabs Bonnie's hand. "What's up?" Bonnie doesn't answer right away, but Caroline waits her out, knowing she'll answer when she's ready.

"I'm in love with him." Bonnie admits quietly after several moments. "When we were stuck in limbo, I got to see a different side of him. I found out such much about him that I never knew and gradually I fell for him."

Caroline fights the urge to squeal at the news and instead tries to get the bottom of Bonnie's sadness. "So what's the problem? You don't make it habit of falling for more than one guy at a time, so I know it isn't because of Jeremy." She has an inkling of the problem, but she wants to be sure.

"No, I told Jeremy it wasn't going to happen as soon as we got back. The problem is that even if I'm over my old relationship, there is no guarantee that Stefan is over his."

"This is about Elena?" Caroline struggles not to roll her eyes because everything always seems to come down to Elena.

"Yeah. " Bonnie admits sadly. "As long as I've known Stefan, one thing has always been a constant-his feelings for Elena. I just don't think I could handle being a rebound for him." She lets go of Caroline's hand.

"You have to know that Stefan would never do something that to you." And if he did she would kick his ass, but she knows that based on his confession earlier, him using her that way is not even in the realm of possibilities.

"I don't think he would do it purposely, but we're talking about a guy who wanted to have his memories erased just so he wouldn't have to deal with the pain of losing her." Referring to last fall when he wanted Rebekah to compel away his memories of Elena. "Who's to say that if Elena suddenly decides she wants Stefan again that he wouldn't jump at the chance. I've already gone through that kind of thing with Jeremy and I know I couldn't handle that with Stefan." She finishes miserably.

"I really don't think that will happen, but either way you should talk to Stefan. I could tell he was upset that you rushed out so quickly after the meeting. You should go and clear the air with him." She doesn't tell her about his fears regarding Jeremy as she figures that should be something Stefan reveals himself.

"You're right. I think I'll go right now." The both sit up at the same time. "Thanks, Caroline" Bonnie hugs Caroline in gratitude before rushing out of the room.

"Well, I did my part, the rest is up to you, Stefan." Caroline says quietly to herself before leaving the room as well.

**Mystic Falls (Stefan's Home)**

Stefan paces the floors of his living room, rethinking Caroline's idea to let Bonnie come to him. It's been several hours and he's starting to think it would better if he went to see her. Excited at the thought of seeing her, he picks of his car keys before making his way to the front door. He has just managed to open the door when he sees the object of his thoughts standing there. Her fist is hovering in mid air and he realizes that she was just getting ready to knock.

"Bonnie." He feels the butterflies moving in his stomach and despite not knowing the outcome of her reasoning, he is immensely happy to see her.

"Um…" She begins uncertainly as it is obvious that he was getting ready to leave. "I came to talk, but if you were on your way out it can wait until another time."

"It's fine, I was actually on my way to see you. Come on in"

Bonnie walks past him and he gets déjà vu from earlier when she came in. It's obvious that Bonnie wants to say something, so he holds off on saying anything for moment. Stuffing his hands in pockets he waits for Bonnie to begin.

"What happened between us earlier can't happen again."

Stefan's heart drops. "Is it because of Jeremy?" He hates to ask, but he needs to know one way or another.

"No." Bonnie looks at him in confusion. "Why would you think this is because of Jeremy?"

"You've been pulling away from me ever since we got back from limbo. I thought that was what you were talking about when you mentioned past relationships in that cave." Stefan walks closer to her so they are only a few feet apart.

Bonnie sighs knowing that she'll have to be completely honest, but at least he'll know why she's pulling back.

"It's about Elena-" She begins, but is interrupted.

"What the hell does Elena have to do with this?" Stefan growls out slightly annoyed.

"I'm not looking to be cast aside if she suddenly decides she wants you back. And let's be honest, based on the last year, her changing her mind is a definite possibility. I went through something like that once before with Jeremy and Anna. I don't think I could do it again." She looks down at the floor sadly.

Stefan steps closer to her lifts her chin in order to look into her eyes. She finally meets his gaze and is shocked by the intensity she sees there.

"I'm over Elena. I have been for awhile and just didn't realize it until I had some time away from her. You're the only woman that I want." He surprises her when he moves her hand to his groin. "Can you feel what you do to me?" He hisses in pleasure when Bonnie's grip tightens slightly.

Bonnie feels him harden at her touch and while there is part of her that flushes in embarrassment, she is unable to find the strength to move her hand.

"Tell me you don't feel this." He moves her hand from around his erection to his chest. "Whenever I'm in the same room as you my heart races, it races at just the thought of you."

"I'm pretty sure that as a vampire your heart doesn't actually race." She interrupts him wryly.

"You know what I mean." He rolls eyes in mirth before returning to his serious state. "The way I feel for you fills up my entire being. Every new thing I find out about you makes me fall even harder." Bonnie gasps as he unknowingly mirrors her earlier words to Caroline.

Moving his hands to her cheeks, he pulls her face closer until their noses are touching. "I'm in love with you." His confesses fiercely, his voice taking on a silky tone she has never heard from him before. "If you can tell me you don't feel the same way, I'll back off. But at least tell me how you feel."

"I'm in love with you too." Bonnie confesses quietly after a few moments of silence. "I just don't want to get hurt again."

"I can't promise I'll never hurt you, just like you can't promise not to ever hurt me, but I promise I'll try my hardest to keep it from happening." He leans in brushing his lips across hers in a soft kiss, waiting for her reaction.

He feels relieved when she leans in and kisses him deeply. Soon the kiss grows; what began as soft and slow becomes rough and passionate. His hands move to grasp her waist and she wraps her arms around his neck. Their tongues tangle together and Bonnie moans at the taste of him. Mechanically, the two make their way to Stefan's bedroom still locked in their embrace. Only managing slip off their shoes.

Once they make it to the bedroom, they separate slightly, getting caught up in each other's gaze. Bonnie's heart flutters when she sees the reverence in eyes. He is only slightly surprised when Bonnie hands slowly to his collar and she begins unbuttoning his shirt. Bonnie quickly moves to slide it off his shoulders. Not caring in the least when the shirt hits the floor, Bonnie instead presses several kisses to his torso.

Stefan groans in pleasure, swiftly pulling her up in order slip his tongue in her mouth. He finds the zipper on the back of her dress and slowly pulls it down. Bonnie shimmies out of the dress leaving her naked save a tiny pair of underwear.

Feeling that Stefan is overdressed, Bonnie begins unbuckling his belt and pulls down his pants and underwear. When he finally steps out of both, Bonnie is distracted by his hardened cock and the rest of his naked body, only to shriek in surprise when Stefan proceeds to rip off her underwear and pick her up.

He carries them over to bed, laying her across the bed before draping himself above her. Their lips meet in another passionate kiss and Bonnie moans when Stefan quickly slides into her wet heat. Both moan at the contact and the level of arousal they both feel.

Wanting to make this last longer than the previous times, Stefan moves slowly inside of her intending on making this last for a long as possible.

X

Hours later, Stefan looks down at the face of the beautiful woman lying peacefully in his arms and feels contentment run through him. He's been watching her for an hour since sleep is the last thing that is on his mind. He has to admit that part of him is afraid that if he goes to sleep, he wake up and find out that what happened between him and Bonnie was just a dream.

He shifts slightly and Bonnie stirs, her face taking on smile when their eyes meet. "Hi." She says softly happiness radiating from her voice.

"Hi." He grins back at her.

"Have you been watching me this whole time?" She asks after she glances at the alarm clock on the end table next to bed.

"Yeah. I like looking at you." He grins unapologetically before confessing, "Plus I'm kind of afraid I'll go to sleep and this will have all been a dream."

Bonnie looks away guiltily, knowing that it was her pulling away from him that is the reason for his insecurity. Leaning her face closer to his she attempts to reassure him.

"You don't have to worry about me running off again. I'm in this, as long as you're in this. I meant it when I said I love you." She rubs his chest slightly before pressing a light kiss to his lips.

"So does this mean that you're officially my girlfriend because I'd really like to take you out on a date."

"Yes to both questions" Bonnie laughs at the look on his face, melting when Stefan leans up to kiss her. He deepens the kiss, lingering for a few moments before rolling over so she is underneath him.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N - This took longer than I anticipated, but whenever I would attempt to write this chapter, I would get ideas for other stories. I'm actually working on one that should be up within the next few days. Until then here is the next chapter of Double or Nothing. I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

**Mystic Falls (Stefan's Home) **

Stefan wakes up to the pleasurable sensation of Bonnie pressing kisses to his neck. He smiles to himself. Hard to believe that yesterday morning, he had been brooding over Bonnie and now she's here in his bed draped on top of him. He grins as Bonnie braces her hands on either side of his head and softly kisses his lips. When he makes an attempt to move his hands to her waist, she pulls away from the kiss, shaking her head.

"No touching." Bonnie whispers before pressing another kiss to his lips. When she first woke up and realized she was in Stefan's arms, she had been unable to stop the arousal that flooded her body. Slightly disappointed that he was still asleep, she decided to wake him up and now here they were.

Bonnie's mouth begins a journey of his body, starting at the hollow of Stefan throat. She presses kisses to both his shoulders, his chest, his abs, before stopping at his navel.

When Stefan feels her tongue dip inside his navel, he moans in pleasure. It makes him want to flip Bonnie on her back and bury himself inside of her, but he manages to restrain himself after he remembers her warning not to touch her. Every single thought flees from his mind the moment she shifts and he feels her mouth wrap around his cock.

Rising off the mattress, he roars in pleasure and Bonnie relishes in the pride that pours through her. She loves that she can bring him to so much pleasure, that she is able to bring him to his knees this way.

Soon he begins to feel a tingling sensation flow through his body. Unwilling to reach climax without her, he quickly pulls Bonnie's head from between his thighs, turns her over so she is flat on her back before entering her with one powerful thrust.

The moment he slips inside of her, he feels a flood of moisture around his cock. He realizes that she is just as turned on as he is and doesn't even attempt to slow down his thrusts. As a result it doesn't take long for either of them to reach climax.

Afterwards, the two lay spooned together. Bonnie's back flush against his chest and Stefan softly tracing patterns on her shoulder.

X

An hour later finds Stefan in the kitchen clad in only a pair of sweatpants, making breakfast for them. Not wanting Bonnie to leave his bed, he decides to bring the breakfast to her.

At those thoughts his mind goes to the naked beauty currently lounging in his bed and he feels his groin harden. It had been a struggle to leave the bed, but with Bonnie's stomach growling, he knew it was necessary.

Stefan smiles as he places a waffle and bacon filled plate on a tray before he heads to the fridge to get some orange juice.

He has just managed to place the two newly poured glasses of juice on the tray when he hears a knock on the door on the other side of the kitchen. Swearing softly to himself he quickly goes to see who is at the door. He frowns when he sees Damon there with his trademark smirk in place.

"Hey, little brother." Damon pushes past Stefan, strutting in as if he owns the place.

"Damon, what are you doing here? You and Elena were supposed be gone for another week, what happened?" Stefan asks hurriedly. He hasn't seen much of Damon since he and Bonnie have returned which hasn't actually bothered him all that much.

Especially since his main focus has been on Bonnie. And that focus has only heightened now that they are officially together. He would much rather be in his bed with his girl so Damon is the last thing he wants to deal with right now.

"Now is that anyway to talk to your favorite brother that has generously decided to pay you a visit?" If Damon is honest, he hadn't really wanted to come see his brother. He hasn't seen much of Stefan since he was rescued; his focus has mostly been on his girlfriend. But Elena had insisted he check up to see how his brother was coping with everything. So here he was.

Stefan says nothing and instead stares at Damon in boredom, wanting him to get to the point of his visit.

"Fine, If you must know, Elena missed Witchy and Blondie. Said she felt bad about leaving them behind." He rolls his eyes. His girlfriend will be sharing a dorm with them in a few weeks so he doesn't understand why she couldn't wait until then to bond with her friends.

"Yeah that still doesn't explain what you're doing here." Stefan voice is filled with a mixture of impatience and annoyance.

"I came to see how you were doing."

"What you really mean is Elena made you come." Normally, Stefan would have thrown out some kind joke about this, but joking with his brother means the longer it will take to get back to Bonnie.

Instead of answering Damon takes the time to look around and that is when he notices the tray of food sitting on the counter. He realizes that Stefan apparently has company of the female variety and wonders what to make of it. Is Stefan going to pulling a Silas and sleep around with every girl in town or will this be another Rebekah situation that only lasts a night or two. Elena hadn't been happy with either situation and all Damon can hope for is that he doesn't drag him or Elena into this.

"As you can clearly see, I'm busy." Stefan begins knowing Damon has finally picked up on the tray of food. "So you can tell Elena that you did your duty and I can get back to what I was doing before you rudely interrupted me." Stefan's voice is firm, but also detached his mind focused on the green-eyed woman in his bed.

Stefan walks over to the door and holds it open, making his intentions clear.

"Okay, I'll go, but if you insist on doing the one night stand thing, keep it to yourself." Damon mutters as he walks out.

Unfazed Stefan closes the door and picks up the tray on his way out of the kitchen before making his way to the bedroom.

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse) **

Jeremy lets out a deep sigh as he lands on his bed with a flop. Dating Hannah to make Bonnie jealous and get her back had been a bad idea. Not only has Bonnie barely noticed, but he's actually starting to like Hannah. He should have never listened to Damon, but he'd been desperate and now he was in deep shit because of it.

He likes Hannah which is why he nearly had sex with her the night before, but at the last moment his thoughts turned to Bonnie and he couldn't do it. Hannah had been disappointed, but told him she was fine with waiting and Jeremy felt the guilt hit him full force.

Jeremy lays on his bed deep in thought and eventually comes to a decision. As much as he is starting to like Hannah, he loves Bonnie more and he's going to get her back. So the next time he sees Bonnie he's going to lay it all out on the line and confess his feelings for her.

And hopefully then Bonnie will finally realize that they are meant to be together.

**Mystic Falls (Stefan's Home) **

Bonnie moans in bliss as Stefan presses her against his front door while he plunders her mouth. She had made several attempts to leave in the last ten minutes, but Stefan keeps pulling her into fiery kisses and her exit keeps getting delayed.

Gathering her strength, Bonnie finally manages to push Stefan away, but almost gives in again when she takes a look at Stefan's face. His eyes are bright with arousal and his lips are swollen from their kisses. Knowing that he looks that way because of her; turns Bonnie on beyond belief. Still she promised she would meet Caroline and Elena and she's not one to break her promises.

So when Stefan attempts to drag her back into his arms, she's firm in her stance. "I really have to go." She says sadly.

Stefan frowns, his lips forming into a pout and Bonnie can't but feel strangely turned on by his need for her. The fact that he's shirtless while he's doing it might have something to do with it as well.

"I promised to meet Caroline and Elena and I still need to go home so I can change and check in with my parents." She might be heading off to college in a couple weeks, but she knows they don't really like it when she doesn't' periodically check-in, especially after what happened recently.

"Besides, I'll see you later on tonight, won't I?"

Stefan pouts turns into a smile when he's reminded of the date he has planned for that night. He wants the night to be special so he'll use the time away from Bonnie to do just that.

"You will definitely see me later." He leers at her and she blushes slightly. "I should be over at your house at around 7:30. Is that okay?"

"That's fine." She agrees and melts slightly when he presses a soft kiss to her lips.

After trading a few more soft kisses, Bonnie finally makes it out the door and to her car.

Stefan watches her leave for a few moments before shutting the door. If he's going to plan the perfect date, he needs to get started right now.

**Mystic Falls (Forbes Home)**

Caroline grins widely when she sees Bonnie walk through the door, a smile on her face. Things had obviously gone well between her and Stefan based on the glow of Bonnie's skin. Not to mention how long it had taken Bonnie to come over. She would love to talk about what happened, but she knows that will have to wait until later when Elena isn't around.

She and Elena both called Bonnie this morning and hadn't gotten an answer so they both left text messages asking her to meet over at Caroline's house to spend the afternoon together.

"Hey Care." Bonnie greets her with a wide smile before turning to Elena and hugging her. "Elena. I thought you and Damon were supposed to be gone for another week. Why did you two come back so early?"

"I missed you guys and with us heading off to college I thought it would nice to spend some time together before we move into the dorms." Elena answers her voice slightly muffled, as she is still locked in the hug with Bonnie. And before long Caroline joins them as well.

X

A few hours later, Elena goes back to the boardinghouse to make sure Damon and Jeremy haven't killed each other, leaving Bonnie and Caroline alone. Caroline has a date with Tyler and it won't be long before she has to start getting ready, so she decides to get right to point.

"So?" Caroline voice is playful, clearly hinting that she wants the details on Bonnie and Stefan.

"What?" Bonnie plays dumb.

"What do you mean 'what'?" Her voices rising slightly. "The last time I saw you; you were on you were heading over Stefan's place and now you're sitting here with a glow and a smile. So I want the details on happened between you two last night."

Bonnie stares at her stone-faced only to break her composure and starts giggling when Caroline frowns at her.

"It was amazing. We spent the entire night and most of the morning together. He even made me my favorite breakfast in bed." Bonnie gushes as she thinks about what happened earlier that day. "We actually have a date later tonight, so I can't stay long."

"Really? That's great what do the two of you have planned?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure whatever it is will be amazing." Bonnie breathes out, her voice filled with obvious happiness.

Caroline grins widely at her best friend happy that Bonnie has finally gotten the happiness that she deserves.

**Mystic Falls (Bennett Home)**

Bonnie rushes the down the stairs as she hears the doorbell ring. She is home alone as her parents have gone out to dinner something that has been happening frequently lately. Bonnie's not quite sure what to make of that if she's honest, but either she doesn't have to worry about her father interrogating Stefan.

When she pulls the door open her breath is taken away when her eyes land on Stefan. He's wearing a dark grey suit paired with a white dress shirt. The first couple of buttons are undone, and it is obvious that he decided against wearing a tie. Bonnie exhales deeply, trying to get her hormones under control. It's not as though she hasn't seen him dressed up before. She has several times, but she always feels a thrill run through her whenever she sees how well he can wear a suit. Now that they are officially together, that thrill has increased tenfold.

Stefan is similarly mesmerized when he takes in the black dress that shows off Bonnie's body in the best way. He's gotten the pleasure of seeing her dressed up at the various dances they've both attended in the past, but looking at her right now he knows those dresses only scratched the surface of showing off her beauty. He sucks in an unneeded breath, trying to get himself together. The moment she pulled the door open, Stefan was overwhelmed with feels of lust and love, and happiness.

"You look…" He attempts to get out his voice husky with desire. "You look amazing." He manages to croak out after clearing his throat.

"Thank you. So do you." Bonnie openly checks him out and walks closer to Stefan.

Stefan kisses her on the cheek before holding out his hand. "We should really get going."

"You never said where we were going." She slips her hand into his after she locks up the house.

"That's because I wanted it to be a surprise, but I think you'll like it." At least Stefan hopes she likes it.

X

When they finally get to their destination, Bonnie is surprised, yet ecstatic to find them in front of the most exclusive Art/Photography museum in town. She has been trying to go to this particular museum for years, but it's extremely (and expensive) to get tickets.

"Stefan, I can't believe you did this. The tickets must have cost you a fortune."

"It wasn't a big deal; I remembered you mentioned not having the chance to visit this museum. And I wanted to give that to you." He shrugs modestly.

"Well thank you either way." Bonnie leans into kiss him and is unsurprised when Stefan deepens it.

After a few moments he pulls away and they make their way inside of the museum.

The next few hours are spent looking through the different exhibits and before long they realize it's time for the museum to close.

Afterwards they decide to head to dinner and Bonnie is once again happy to see that Stefan remembered her favorite Chinese restaurant.

X

By the time they leave the restaurant an hour later, it is pouring down rain. Stefan reaches for Bonnie's hand intending on rushing to his car, but she stops him with a look.

"What's wrong?" He frowns in confusion.

"Nothing's wrong. I just want to try something." She has been feeling slightly different since she came back and knows that part of it is due to her newly enhanced powers. As a witch she has always been in tune with nature, but she's feeling even more in tuned right now. Bonnie spreads out her arms, her palms facing outward. She lifts her head slightly as the rain hits her and she proceeds to move the droplets into various shapes. A grin appears on her face when she turns small shower of rain into a circle, a square, and finally a triangle before letting it drop to the ground.

Stefan watches enraptured by the way Bonnie completely immerses herself in the storm. He has always been intrigued by Bonnie's witch side, but seeing her in her element is humbling. Not to mention a turn on.

After several minutes of this, Bonnie breaks out of her mini-trance, only to get caught up in Stefan's smoldering gaze.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Her voice is slightly husky.

Instead of getting an answer, Bonnie unexpectedly finds herself pulled into Stefan's embrace, her feet hanging several inches off the ground. Her hands automatically wrap around his neck and she can feel one of his hands burrow into her hair while the other wraps around her waist. When Stefan presses his lips to hers, she melts in response.

The kiss is slow, yet passionate with Vampire and Witch too engrossed in each other to care about getting wet or anything else.

X

Across the street a lone figures stands watching the two supernaturals get lost in their embrace, clearly not caring about who could see them. Jeremy had been on his way to pick up something at one of his favorite Chinese restaurants when he noticed Bonnie and Stefan walking out. Not all that surprising, the two have seemingly become closer since returning from limbo.

He had however, been surprised when instead of getting to Stefan's car, she stopped and started focusing on her powers. He had been even more surprised when Stefan suddenly lifted her into his arms and kissed her.

Getting into his car, he feels a kick to his gut as he watches Bonnie kiss Stefan with an intensity that he's never seen before. That explains why she nixed the idea of them getting back together. And why Stefan has been slightly hostile towards him lately. When he takes all that into account he becomes angry.

Here Jeremy is holding back with Hannah because he didn't want to feel like he was cheating on Bonnie and she's here making out with Stefan in public. Well there is only one thing for him to do now.

Jeremy starts the car and drives off hurriedly, though still having the frame of mind to consider the bad weather.

When he gets to his destination he rushes out of the car and knocks on the door rapidly anxious for it to be opened.

"Jeremy, what are you doing here?" Hannah is surprised to see him. There date wasn't until tomorrow and she had got the feeling he might want to break things off.

Jeremy says nothing and instead pulls her into a passionate kiss. Hannah melts into it, gasping slightly when his hands move to cup her ass.

"I know what I said before, but I'm ready now." Jeremy lifts her into her arms, kicking the door closed before pulling her into another kiss.

Not long after that, they two begin pulling of their clothes and the only sounds that can be heard are soft groans.


	10. Chapter 10

**Mystic Falls (Stefan's Home) **

**One Week Later**

Stefan thrusts upward, quickly bringing both he and Bonnie to an earth shattering pleasure. He grunts slightly as her legs wrap tighter around his waist and her nails dig into his shoulders, clearly lost in her release. His fingers sink into her hips, leaving what are sure to be bruises on her soft skin. Stefan had been horrified the first time he realized he marked her that way. The last thing he would ever want to do is hurt her, but Bonnie reassured him that she never felt any pain. In fact, she even said that she loved coming across the marks later on because she could relieve their lovemaking all over again.

After a few more aftershocks, Bonnie and Stefan fall back together on the couch flush against each other. Stefan looks around the living room, briefly glancing at the trail of clothes from the door to the couch before chuckling lightly.

Bonnie folds her arms across his chest and lifts her head, her green eyes staring at him inquisitively. "What's so funny?"

"I just realized, we were supposed to be out on date right now. We never even made it out the door." He glances at the picnic basket sitting in the hallway by the front door. They had decided the night before to go on a picnic this afternoon, even taking the time to pack for it. However, they shared a kiss at the door and before long they cared very little about the picnic. It had been so frantic, that they only made it as far as the couch before their hormones took over completely, making Stefan extremely grateful he finally moved into his own place.

"Mmm. Not making it outside is becoming quite the habit for us." She teases, referring to the three other dates that had been broken in favor of staying in. She doesn't know what it is, but all Stefan has to do is look at her and she's on fire. And apparently Bonnie also has that effect on him because he can't seem to get enough of her either.

"I'm definitely not complaining." He says as he slips a hand behind her neck and drags her into a kiss.

The moment their lips meet the usual spark that Bonnie experiences whenever they kiss hits her full force. She feels his tongue tracing along the line of her lips and she quickly opens her mouth to let him in. Her body grows hotter as Stefan's hands reverently caress the soft skin on her back.

Stefan has managed to align their groins when an incessant knock from the front door echoes through the room. Startled, Bonnie abruptly sits up much to Stefan's displeasure. He follows Bonnie upward, pulling her close enough that their chests are pressed against each other.

"If we ignore them, they'll eventually go away." Stefan utters softly before kissing her again. However, before they can get completely lost in the moment, the knocking starts up again.

"Whoever…" Bonnie moans as Stefan kisses her neck "…Whoever it is obviously isn't going away anytime soon."As soon she utters the rest of her sentence, Stefan begins devouring her lips in earnest. She has just managed to lose herself in the kiss, when another knock breaks their lust-filled haze. Pushing him away slightly, "You should go see who's at the door."

Stefan growls unhappily, more than ready to ignore the annoying knocking.

"The sooner you find out who's at the door, the sooner they leave and…" She whispers the rest of her dirty thoughts in his ear and laughs when Stefan closes his eyes, in a clear attempt to taper down his arousal.

"I'll be right back." He pecks her lips quickly and attempts to calm down his hormones somewhat.

Stefan reluctantly lifts Bonnie off his lap, placing her back on the couch before standing up. He then reaches for the pair of boxers that are on the floor and slips them on before rushing to answer the door.

Katherine smirks when Stefan pulls open the door sweaty and clad in only a pair of boxers. She has to admit that he looks really good and happy if the warmth in his eyes is any indication. Interestingly, it's a spark she never noticed when he was involved with her doppelganger.

"Well someone obviously got good and laid and from the looks of things, on their way to getting laid again." She glances at the prominent bulge straining against his boxers.

Uncomfortable Stefan hides the bottom half his body behind the door blocking Katherine's view of his crotch. "What do you want Katherine?" He asks tersely, already dreading what's to come.

"Such a loaded question, but It's not you I want. It's your witch." Katherine grins smugly at Stefan's look of surprise that she knows about his new romance. She may not technically be vampire at moment, but she still has sources in Mystic Falls and they love to gossip.

Stefan stiffens at the mention of Bonnie despite being aware of Katherine's new status as human. She may longer have the enhancements that come with being a vampire, but he knows she has the potential to be just as dangerous. "What the hell do you want with Bonnie?"

"I need her help with something. Do you think you can pry yourself off of her long enough for that happen?"

"Do you think you could ask for my help directly instead of going through Stefan first?" Bonnie's steely voice breaks through the tension.

Katherine glances up at Bonnie who has just stepped next to Stefan wearing one of his button-down shirts and her hair is in disarray. It's actually kind of jarring to see Bonnie this way considering the role she typically plays as the do-gooder witch. Who knew getting some would have such an effect on her.

"Aw come on Bon Bon, don't be like that?" Katherine asks in mockingly sweet voice.

"Cut the crap, what is it that you want?" Bonnie is no mood to play games with the former vampire.

"I seem to remember a little deal we made that you reneged on. The way I see it, is you have enough power to reverse this and give me back my vampire status" Katherine explains.

"Like I said before, it's not my fault Qetsiyah screwed you over. As far as I'm concerned we have nothing to talk about." And with that she walks away and heads back toward the living room.

Angry, Katherine glares at Stefan who is watching her with a smug look on his face before walking out of the door.

Stefan shuts the door behind her and quickly makes his way to Bonnie who is standing in the middle of the room her arms folded. He surprises her by suddenly lifting her into his arms. "Now where were we?" He grins at Bonnie, his voice taking on a playful tone.

Bonnie's only response after wrapping her arms around his neck, is to pull him down for a kiss.

**Sutton, Virginia (Sandberg Manor)**

It's been nearly two months since Janet Sanberg's four children were been killed and she is still just as devastated as she had been when it first happened. The only difference is her anger is more pronounced than it had been.

She came home to find her worst nightmare and it is something she never will forget. She had repeatedly tried to bring them back to life with magic, but it had been no use. The police officially ruled the deaths as an accident, but she knows that wasn't the case.

She didn't figure it out until a month ago when she touched an item in the room her children had been killed in and got a psychic jolt. The jolt ended up being a good thing because she had gotten a good look at the face of the vampire that killed them.

The last month has been spent working on a plan to avenge her children. Now that those plans are complete, she can finally go and find the bastard that murdered her children.

**Mystic Falls (Grocery Store)**

"Funny coincidence running into you here of all places" Elena spins around at the sound of Katherine's voice and rolls her eyes. She had asked Bonnie and Caroline over for a girls night and wanted to pick up some snacks before they came over.

"Somehow I get the feeling, you planned this 'coincidence' and I have to say I'm not really in the mood" She steps around Katherine and attempts to ignore her by dropping the bag of pretzels into the shopping cart.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Katherine denies in a way that makes it clear, she did plan the coincidence. She had seen Elena's car in the parking lot and made the decision to follow the doppelganger into the store.

"Sure you don't," Elena's voice is sarcastic as she tries to walk away from the former vampire.

"Well since you're here, I was wondering what you thought about Stefan and Bonnie?"

"What about them." Elena's voice takes on steely tone and she wonders what Katherine has planned.

"You don't know about their romance, I figured they would have told you." Her voice is the picture of faux-shock despite knowing Elena definitely hadn't known about their relationship

"Oh well, my mistake." Katherine grins as she turns and walks off leaving Elena alone in aisle.

Elena's first instinct is not believe Katherine, but when she thinks about everything that's happened since Bonnie and Stefan returned, it actually makes sense. Still she'll ask Bonnie about it later on to confirm her suspicions.

**Mystic Falls (Outside of the Forbes Home)**

Caroline taps her foot impatiently as she waits for Stefan to show up. They were supposed to be going out of town to restock their supply of blood, a trip that they make every month. However, Stefan is about fifteen minutes late which is unlike him.

Within a few seconds she sees Stefan pull up and she slowly makes her way to his car opening the door.

"Hey Caroline, sorry I'm late." Stefan glances at her as she gets into the car.

"Stefan." Caroline greets him back the irritation clear in her voice, but when she takes in Stefan's appearance she starts laughing hysterically.

"What?" Stefan looks at her in confusion, wondering what could be so funny.

"Your shirt is buttoned incorrectly and your mouth is covered with lipstick."

Stefan checks the rearview mirror and sure enough, Bonnie's lipstick is all over his mouth. He'd been on his way to pick up Caroline when they had gotten distracted. As a result he'd been late going to pick up Caroline. He quickly re-buttons his shirt and looks around for something to wipe his mouth.

Caroline takes pity on him, laughing as she hands him a napkin to wipe off the lipstick. While she had initially been irritated by his lateness, seeing him so flustered washes any lingering irritation away.

"I'm sorry. We kind of got distracted on our way out the door. I just can't seem to help myself." Stefan voice turns apologetic as he wipes the lip stick off his mouth.

"I get it; you guys are in the 'can't your hands off of each other' honeymoon stage." Caroline's voice is wistful. She and Tyler still have a ton of sex, but the honeymoon stage is always great in the beginning.

"Still no excuse to bail on you like that."

"It's okay, really. I like seeing you and Bonnie so happy together." She smiles at him sincerely. He and Bonnie have both gone through so much so seeing them so in love makes her immensely happy.

"Bonnie, told me you convinced her to come talk to me. Thank you for that."

"No problem." They share a brief smile before Stefan puts the car into drive and pulls out of the driveway.

**Mystic Falls (Katherine's loft)**

Katherine downs the glass of scotch she just poured amused by what just took place with Elena. She might not have convinced Bonnie to help her, but she did manage to knock down Elena a peg and cause some friction for Bonnie. She moves to pour another glass when she hears a knock at the door.

She sighs and walks over to the door expecting it to be one of her neighbors. She is however surprised when she sees what looks to be Stefan and Bonnie standing at the door. She is about ready to make a snarky comment when she takes a look into Bonnie's eyes and realizes that the usual goodness present in Bonnie's eyes is missing. Instead there is a cold darkness that there and Katherine soon realizes that whoever this isn't Bonnie.

"You must be Qetsiyah, so you must be Silas." Katherine looks at the two of them slightly nervous despite her efforts not to be.

"Glad to see you figured it out so quickly, it will make our partnership much easier." Silas directs to her cryptically.

"Why would you think I'd be crazy enough to partner up with you?"

"We've heard through the grapevine that, you have been trying to reverse your vampire status." She smirks slightly when Katherine perks up "If you work with us I can reverse it right here and right now."

"Why would you do this? What would be in it for you?"Katherine's tempted to take them up on it, but she has to wonder why they would suddenly show up to help her.

"The question you should be asking is what you would be willing to do to get your status back." Qetsiyah deflects the question, knowing that the former vampire's thirst for her old life will factor into her decision.

"You've got yourself a deal." Katherine knows she might be sorry for this, but figures it will be worth in the end.

Silas and Qetsiyah look at each both inwardly smiling. The more power they can get behind them, the easier it will be to defeat Stefan and Bonnie.

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse)**

Bonnie walks into the boardinghouse and sees Elena sitting in an armchair. She is about to greet her when she sees the on Elena's face and automatically knows something is wrong. "What's wrong, Elena?" She sits down in the chair next to Elena's after dropping her small duffel bag on the floor.

"Are you and Stefan together?" Elena cuts right to the chase.

"Yeah, we are. We got closer when we were in limbo, but we didn't officially start anything until a couple of weeks ago." Bonnie confirms, trying to determine how Elena found out because she knows Caroline didn't say anything.

"Katherine told me. Or more accurately pretended to let the news slip." She answers Bonnie's unasked question, hurt clearly present in her voice. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

"We weren't actively hiding it from you or anyone else. Things are still new between us and we didn't feel the need to make any announcements about it." Bonnie explains cautiously, unsure how to read Elena's reaction.

"But Caroline knows?" Elena remembers seeing Caroline giving Bonnie knowing looks a few times over the course of the last week. She had wondered what exactly that had been about and now she realizes that it had been because of her relationship with Stefan.

"Caroline only knows because she figured it out. To be honest if it hadn't been for her we wouldn't even be together."

"What do you mean?" Elena asks her curiously piqued.

"I saw your relationship with Stefan in action. I wasn't sure if I wanted to put myself in the middle of that and take the risk of getting hurt. It wasn't until Caroline convinced me to talk Stefan, that I changed my mind."

"Stefan and I should have ended our relationship a long time ago. I clung to the relationship because it was familiar and it was easier than having to deal with my feelings for Damon. I can't speak for Stefan, but imagine he did some of the same. I want you both to be happy and if it's with each other than I'm happy for you both." Elena smiles, but Bonnie can tell that something is still bothering her.

"You don't sound happy." Bonnie calls her on it and Elena decides to tell her what is actually bothering her about all this.

"I really am happy for you." Elena's smile is genuine. "Stefan had to move on eventually and I think you'll be good for him. I just hate that you felt like you couldn't tell me." That's what had bothered Elena the most about Katherine's reveal. That she and Bonnie have gotten to point where Bonnie feels like she has to hide an important relationship because of how she might react.

"I know I haven't been a very good friend lately, but I really want us to get back to where we before. Do you think that's possible for us?" Elena asks hopefully.

"I think we could try." Bonnie says after a few moments of silence. She knows it will take a lot for them to get back to where they were, but she really has missed being able to talk to Elena about anything.

With that the two women embrace in a hug, both feeling a lightness they hadn't felt in a long time.

X

**One Hour Later**

Jeremy walks in the boarding house and is surprised to see Bonnie flipping through channels on the couch. He then remembers that Elena planned a girls night with Bonnie and Caroline. Over the last week, he's basically spent most nights over at Hannah's place. He'd spent the week avoiding everyone for the most part and actually thought very little about Bonnie. However, now that he is in the same room as her, the anger floods him and he stomps over to her.

Bonnie looks up when she hears foots steps and is shocked to see an agitated Jeremy walking over to her. Before that she had been waiting for Elena to come back from kitchen with the snacks she bought for the night.

"How could you?" Jeremy grits his teeth in an attempt to rain in his anger.

"How could I what?" Bonnie stands up and looks up at him, genuinely confused by his attitude toward her.

"I saw you all over Stefan, that night in the rain. How could you pick a vampire of all things over me? You can't be dumb enough to think he actually cares about you." He raises his voice.

Bonnie exhales, somewhat taken aback by Jeremy's reaction. She thought he had been moving on with his new girlfriend, Hannah. She had only met the girl a couple times, but she seemed nice enough. The rest of her however, fills up with anger at the insults he threw at her.

"First of all," Bonnie's voice is steely "Not wanting to be you with you had nothing to do with Stefan. Like I said before our relationship was done a long time ago." She stalks closer to him, anger pouring from her in waves. "Second, my relationship with Stefan is none of your business."

"He's only going to dump you, but I guess in your eyes it's better to be a vampire's sex toy." Jeremy knows he has gone too far, but he needs her to realize that Stefan can't be trusted.

Bonnie's eyes flash with anger and Jeremy backs away from her. He can tell she is just about to respond when a voice interrupts them.

"Jeremy, what the hell is wrong with you?" Elena walks over to her brother, surprised by his cruel treatment of Bonnie. She heard the last bit of what he said and it had taken everything in her to not hit him.

They lock eyes until Bonnie clears her throat, gaining their attention. Jeremy glares at Bonnie one last time before turning to leave. "I have to get out of here." He decides that going over to Hannah's is out of the question right now considering how angry he is and instead decides to go hang out with Matt.

Not long after he storms out, Caroline walks in and automatically picks up on the tension in the room. She notices that "I passed Jeremy just now and he didn't look to happy. What happened?" She directs toward both women.

"My jackass brother had a tantrum over Bonnie being with Stefan." Elena answers the blonde vampire's question, trying unsuccessfully reign in her anger. She doesn't know what the hell got into to him, but she intends to find out.

"Okay that makes sense" Caroline remembers the way "Wait, you know about Stefan and Bonnie?" Her mouth opening in shock when Elena nods her head. "And you are actually okay with it?" She had assumed when Elena found out, that she might not have the best reaction, but it looks like Jeremy was the one they should have been worried about.

"You know I'm starting to resent the fact that you guys think I wouldn't want my friends to be happy." Elena teases before the each take a seat on the couch.

"Well, you didn't have the best reaction when Stefan had that fling with Rebekah." Caroline remembers that reaction vividly

"That was only because I hate Rebekah. I mean who wants to see their ex with someone they dislike?"

"You have point." Caroline concedes before sly grin appears on her face. "So now that everything is out in the open, I think it's only fair that you two tell me what it's like to sleep with Stefan."

Bonnie and Elena glance at each other and burst into laughter at Caroline's antics.

**Mystic Falls (Mystic Grill)**

Stefan walks out of the restaurant finishing off a milk shake. After he and Caroline returned from restocking their blood supply, he had gotten the urge to each for a burger and fries. Most of the time, he only eats to keep up appearances, but there are times that he actually gets the urge to eat actual food. Stefan suspects that tonight's craving is partially due to a lack of Bonnie. Tonight is the first night they have spent apart since they've gotten together and he's seriously missing her.

He thoughts are so focused on Bonnie that he nearly plows the person in front of him over. "I'm so sorr-..Elena?" The last person he expected to see is his ex-girlfriend.

"Hey, Stefan." Elena greets, equally surprised to see him.

"Are you picking an order or something for your girls night?

"Yeah, I bought snacks earlier, but those almost gone. I swear Caroline and your girlfriend eat like football players" Elena smiles.

"You know about me and Bonnie?" Stefan raises an eyebrow at the description of Bonnie.

"Yeah, Katherine purposely let it slip earlier and before you say anything I'm really happy for you both." She smiles and it reminds him of the somewhat carefree girl she had been before everything went down.

"Really?" His voice is cautious.

"Yes, really." She laughs at his cautiousness before sobering up. "There is one thing though."

"What?" Stefan begins to get nervous again.

"I'm sure Caroline already said this, but if you hurt her I will kick your ass."

"I don't plan on hurting her, but I'm glad she has people looking out for her." Stefan smiles softly.

"And on that note, I better pick up my order or Caroline will start calling." As if on cue her cell phones tings and Elena answers it before nodding her goodbyes to Stefan and going into the restaurant.

Stefan walks to the back of the Grill where his motorcycle is parked and was getting ready to hop on it when he feels a shooting pain run through his head. He turns around and is confused when he sees his attacker. He attempts to back away, but the pain becomes worse until he passes out and falls to the ground

Janet quickly binds his hands and legs with vampire- proof metal. After she's finished, she snaps her fingers and her nephew Andrew rushes over to them. He picks up Stefan and quickly transports him to their van. Meanwhile, Janet, waves a hand in the air, causing Stefan's motorcycle to disappear.

"Are you sure about this?" Andrew asks her knowing that they didn't usually do this kind of thing.

"Yes this is the bastard that murdered my children and now he's going to pay." Janet voice takes on a menacing tone as she and Andrew get into the van and drive away.

Afterwards, the only evidence that Stefan had been there is a small wallet-sized picture of Bonnie in Stefan's arms that fell onto ground during the struggle.


	11. Chapter 11

**Mystic Falls (Abandoned Factory)**

Janet watches as the vampire begins to stir and anticipation flows through her. Torturing him is going to be fantastic. She had been planning on sending Andrew to track the vamp, something she knew would be extremely difficult, but she gotten a break this afternoon when she came across him in Sutton. He had been with a blonde vampire purchasing a supply of blood (fairly common in their particular town). While she had wanted to take care of him right then and there she knew it would be a long shot with the blonde around. Besides, while it's incredibly likely that she is just as vile, she only has beef with this particular vampire. So she and Andrew followed them to Mystic Falls and bided their time until he was alone. Now he's strapped to a table about to meet his end and she couldn't be happier.

Feeling weak is not something that is common for Stefan, but that is what he feels when his regains consciousness and tries to move. He knows it's because the chains he is currently locked in were made for just that purpose. He's weak enough that even making an attempt to open his eyes seems out of the question, but he still makes the attempt anyway. The first thing Stefan sees when he opens his eyes is the menacing stare of a blonde haired woman. The woman is probably in her early fifties and he senses that despite her unassuming look, there is a lot of power under the surface.

"I see you're awake." Janet voice is a mixture of anger and glee. Seeing the bastard that murdered her children face to face infuriates her, but she also feels the adrenaline that comes with finally having the chance to take care of him.

"Where am I? Why am I here?" His voices croaks, another effect from the chains.

"You're such a bastard that you don't even remember your crimes? The question is obviously rhetorical, but when he still looks at her in confusion, she erupts and stabs in the shoulder with the wooden stake she had been holding.

Stefan screams out in pain, hissing as the pain in his shoulder gets worse.

"Now I'll refresh your memory." Her voice is deceptively calm. "Think back to two months ago, you tricked four innocent people into helping you and then you ruthlessly murdered them!" As soon as the last part is out of her mouth, she stabs him in his side and twists the stake to inflict more pain.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" He gets out between his screams, the blood gushing out of his wound. He knows he's not innocent by any means, but he hasn't killed anyone that would be considered innocent in nearly a year.

"Sure you don't. Of course you say that now that you're caught! You did this so now you must pay." The fact that he's denying it pisses her off even more and makes her more determined to get him to admit what he did. She picks up a knife and stabs him in the thigh.

"I didn't do whatever it is that you think I did, but I think I know who did." Gritting his teeth, Stefan tries to explain about Silas, but every word that comes out only serves to make the woman even angrier.

"Stop lying you son of a bitch! You murdered my children and the sooner you admit the better." Her voice is taunting.

"I didn't kill them!" He whimpers in pain as she stabs him in the chest, just missing his heart."

"You did, and if you expect me to believe that bullshit story about a doppelganger, you're an even sicker bastard than I thought." She finishes this up by jabbing him in the thigh, laughing when the blood rushes out of his wound.

Stefan continues pleading his case, but eventually realizes that it's getting him nowhere.

Meanwhile Janet continues with her torture, relishing each scream she earns from him.

Eventually the pain becomes unbearable for Stefan and he begins to think of Bonnie in order to block the pain out, not realizing that he is unknowingly sending Bonnie clues to his whereabouts.

**Mystic Falls (Elena's Bedroom)**

_Something is wrong_ _with Stefan. _Bonnie's eyes shoot open as the thought fully registers in her head. She turns her head right and left, noting that Caroline and Elena are still sleeping peacefully on either side of her. When she glances at the clock she realizes that it is 2am. At first Bonnie assumes that it's just her self-conscious telling her she misses Stefan, but when she gets another jolt in her head, she knows that something is really wrong.

Bonnie sits up in bed something that is slightly difficult with both Elena and Caroline spooning her (she always forgets how grabby they are in sleep). As she sits there, the bad feeling becomes more intense and her heart begins to race. Bonnie eventually goes into a mini trance, in an attempt to draw out the vision she keeps getting of Stefan in danger. As a result she doesn't notice that Elena and Caroline have both woken up and are looking at her in concern.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" Elena tries to get her attention to no avail. She had been sleeping when she had heard the loud pounding of Bonnie's heartbeat. Worried that Bonnie was being attacked she instantly woke up.

Caroline was similarly woken up going from panic to calmness when she saw that Bonnie was okay, only to panic again when she realizes that Bonnie seems petrified. "Bonnie, hey" Snapping her fingers. "Snap out of it." She says as she makes an attempt to break the witch out of her trance.

Abruptly Bonnie breaks out of her trance and is getting ready to climb out of bed when she feels Caroline tugging on her arm.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Caroline saw the panicked look in Bonnie's eyes as soon as she broke out of her trance.

"Where are you going? What's wrong?" Elena exchanges a concerned look with Caroline.

"It's Stefan. I had some kind of vision, something is wrong." She snatches her arm away from Caroline's grip and climbs out of bed.

"What! How do you know?" Both women simultaneously, a mixture of confusion, worry, and dread flowing through them.

"I think it's because of the bond." She digs through her duffel bag to switch out her pajamas for real clothes. "I don't know how to explain it. I just know in my gut that something is wrong." She looks at them hoping pleadingly, hoping that that they believe her.

Elena is the first to react, knowing that if Bonnie's worried that there is something genuinely wrong. "I'll call Damon since he's out drinking with Tyler and he can go check out Stefan's place." She climbs out of bed and quickly gets dressed as well "We need to make sure he's not at home first before we panic." She gives Bonnie a weak smile and softly squeezes her shoulder on her way out of the room.

Caroline picks up her phone and begins going through it until she finds the number she is looking for.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asks her in confusion.

"Matt is still working his shift at the Mystic Grill so I'm calling him to check outside since that was the last place Stefan was seen." Caroline says just before the phone clicks over and she hears Matt's voice.

"What's wrong?" Matt gets right to the point, knowing that something must be wrong for Caroline to be calling so late.

"It's Stefan. He's missing." She explains about Bonnie's vision and how they had been unable to reach Stefan when they called him.

"Whoa." He lets out a long exhale. "What do need to me to do?"

"I need you to check outside for any clues. Elena ran into him earlier so that was the last place he was seen."

"I'll do that right now, hold on." He goes outside and Caroline can hear him walking around.

While she waits, Caroline glances across the room to see how Bonnie is holding up and sees her going through her witch gear. A year ago she might have thought it would be weird for Bonnie to come to a sleep over with her witch gear, but sadly it has become necessary for even the simplest events.

"Okay I'm back. Bonnie's right something did happen to Stefan."

"I found a picture of Stefan and Bonnie. Which by the way when the hell did that happen?"

"It's kind of a long story. Anyway did you find anything else other than the picture?"

"Oh yeah, there is also some kind of card next to it. Some kind of auto repair business down in Sutton."

"Sutton?" Caroline stiffens when she remembers that she and Stefan were just there the day before?"

"Yeah." He confirms "I don't know if that helps you or not, but I thought it was possible they were connected."

"It does, thanks Matt."

"Ok call me back if you guys need anything."

After she hangs up the phone up, she explains what Matt told her and the trip she and Stefan took to Sutton the day before.

"So you think, someone from that town had something to do with this?" Bonnie's mind races, a million thoughts going through her head.

"I don't know, but I do think that card being with that picture of you two is too convenient to be a coincidence.

x

In the living room Elena picks up her phone from the coffee table and dials Damon's number.

"I knew you would miss me? Are Witchy and Blondie asleep yet?" His voice is flirtatious and though she would normally be turned on by it, at the moment it's only causing her annoyance.

"I need you to check on Stefan." She snaps out.

"Is another one of your attempts to get us to bond?" He hadn't been happy about her first attempt and he definitely doesn't want to go through that again.

"No. Bonnie had some kind of vision that indicated something was wrong. So I figured since you were closer to Stefan's place you could check it out. She's kind of a wreck right now, so us rushing all over town would not be the best idea."

"Why would Bonnie be a wreck over Stef-" He starts to ask before figuring it out for himself. "Wait the witch is banging Stefan?" Damon has to admit that comes as a surprise as the witch has a tendency to be self-righteous and a vampire is the last person he figured she would hook up with. Now that he thinks about it, that must have been the woman Stefan had been so eager to get back to that morning Damon went to see him.

"I wouldn't phrase it like that." Elena rolls her eyes. "Just call back me back after you check things out." She hangs up the phone before he can respond.

When she looks up, Bonnie and Caroline have both walked out of the room and from the grave look on their faces she can tell that Matt must have given them some bad news.

**Mystic Falls (Abandoned Factory)**

Janet sits in a chair across from Stefan, silently waiting for him to regain consciousness. She wants to inflict as much pain on him as possible and doing it while he's out cold is not very appealing. She turns when she hears the door click open and sees Andrew walking in with two Styrofoam cups of coffee. It's obvious he went to one of the nearby coffee shops.

"I thought you could use this." He hands her one of the cups and she nods her head at him in gratitude.

"Has he admitted anything yet?" He directs to his aunt, wanting just as badly for the bastard that killed his cousins in cold blood to suffer.

"No, but he will. I'll keep torturing him until he does."

"What if he doesn't?" Andrew hates to ask, but he has to admit to it being a possibility. Vampires can be very stubborn when they want to be.

"I have my ways." She says cryptically before handing Andrew her now empty cup of coffee to him. "Now I would advise you to go back to watching the door."

Silently, Andrew leaves the room and Janet decides walks over to Stefan who is beginning to stir. She then picks up her stake and jams it in his leg, inwardly grinning when he lets out a painful bellow.

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse Living room)**

The door opens and Tyler and Damon walk in surprising Caroline and Elena.

"How did you two get here so quickly?" Elena asks, it has only been twenty minutes since she talked to him and she had been expecting him to call.

"We were in Stefan's area when you called so it didn't take long for us to check up on him." Tyler says as he stands next to Caroline.

"And the witch was right he's not there and hasn't been there for a while." Damon interrupts Tyler, slightly annoyed that werewolf answered before he could himself.

"Yeah Caroline talked to Matt and he pretty much confirmed that Stefan is missing." Elena explains what they have been doing the last hour or so.

"So now that we know he's definitely missing, we have to figure out how to find him." Caroline jumps in to the conversation.

They all glance at Bonnie who has once again gone into a trance. The only thing that indicates she is still okay is the increasing worry that appears in her eyes.

Bonnie's mind focuses on the images that keep flashing in her mind. She sees a blonde woman grieving, a sign that mentions the town of Sutton, and an image of a grinning Silas.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Damon asks as he looks from Bonnie to Elena and Caroline.

"I'm hoping that means she's getting more clues about Stefan." Caroline moves closer to Bonnie on the couch and grabs her wrist.

As soon she makes contact with Bonnie suddenly comes out of her trance and quickly stands up, rushing to get her phone as the others look on in confusion.

"Bonnie what are you doing." Elena is the one to ask.

"I need to look up the images that just flashed into my mind." She pulls up the internet on her phone.

"How can you be sure those images are legit. I mean your magic has gone off the deep end before" Damon asks, not wanting his brother's fate to be left up to magic that is not always reliable.

"Because, I'm pretty sure Stefan is the one sending me these clues."

"Are you sure?" Elena asks in slight wonderment, thinking it's kind of cool that she can communicate with Stefan that way even though the circumstances are less than ideal at the moment.

"Just a feeling I'm getting." She types in the word 'Sutton' and 'recent deaths', not surprised when she comes across an article about four siblings that died. It had been ruled a freak accident, but Bonnie has a feeling Silas had something to do with Bonnie looks at the picture of the siblings, she sees the similarities between them and woman in her vision. She realizes that the woman is more than likely their mother and unsurprisingly wants revenge. Based on the pendant one of the women was wearing, she knows they are witches, confirming that Stefan is definitely in danger. Biting back a curse, Bonnie stands up and goes to get her grimoire.

"Bonnie?" It doesn't escape Caroline that Bonnie seems more focused than she had a few minutes ago.

"I know who has him and why. Now I just have to figure out where." She flips through the grimoire, stopping when she finds the locator spell she needs. Within a few minutes she has the exact location pinpointed. "I've got it." And then she proceeds to explain to the others about Janet Sandberg and Silas.

"So where is he?" Damon asks impatiently, wanting to get the show on the road.

"I'll explain that to Caroline and Elena on the way."

Damon looks angry that isn't included in the rescue mission, but before he can open his mouth to complain, Bonnie explains her reasoning.

"This woman is a powerful witch who just lost her children, the last thing she wants to see are vampires." Her voice is steady giving no room for an argument. "I'm only asking Caroline and Elena because I might need the backup and I know I can trust them. The last thing Stefan needs is for you to come in half-cocked like you usually do and piss this woman off even more."

"Fine whatever, but you better hope nothing goes wrong because if I have to come and rescue you, I'm going to rub that in your face." He shrugs before plopping on the couch.

"You guys should head to the car while I go get rest of my stuff." Bonnie ignores Damon and focuses on her two best friends.

"Okay." They both nod before they make their way out of the boardinghouse.

Bonnie picks up the rest of her stuff and just about to walk out herself when Jeremy opens the door. Not wanting to deal with him at the moment, she attempts to walk around him but he blocks her in.

"Leaving so soon?" He throws out at her, still angry over their argument the day before.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way." She snarls out in between clenched teeth. Her voice is steely and both Tyler and Damon flinch knowing that a storm will be coming if Jeremy doesn't back off.

"I'm not sorry about what I said. Sooner or later you're to going to figure out that Stefan's only with you to make Elena jealous." He stupidly ignores the clues that he should back off.

"I don't have time for your bullshit right now!" And with a flick of her wrist he's flying across the room right before he lands on the floor in a heap. She then walks out of the boardinghouse not giving him a second glance.

"Dude, what the hell were you thinking?" Tyler helps him up, taking pity on him. "You're lucky she didn't kill you."

Damon watches on silently. While he agrees with Jeremy's assertion that this thing between Bonnie and Stefan is most likely for Elena's benefit, it had been entirely the wrong time. Still after this over, he will speak to Stefan and make sure he knows that he won't be giving up Elena.

**Mystic Falls (Abandoned Factory)**

Andrew stands up straighter when he sees the beauty walking over to him. He saw the car she was in stop and he can only assume they are a having car trouble. As she gets closer he can see that she has bright green eyes and a fantastic body. He had been bored manning the door for his Aunt Janet. He would have much rather gotten in on the action so to speak, but he understood that this was his aunts fight. But maybe if he can get a date out of, waiting here won't be such a bore.

"Hi beautiful" His voice is flirtatious. "Are you having car trouble?" He brings out his most charming smile.

"Not exactly" Bonnie smiles, though inwardly she feels slightly guilty for what she's about to do. When they pulled up to the factory, they decided that Bonnie would go in alone and distract the guy standing at the door.

Andrew looks slightly perplexed by her response and is getting ready to question her about it, when he feels a searing pain in his head. "You're a witch?" Is all he gets out before he passes out, landing on the ground with slight thud.

Janet is looking for another way to torture Stefan (the staking method is obviously not working) when she hears the door bang open.

"Andrew… I thought I told you to watch the doo – Who the hell are you?" Janet yells out, surprised to see a tiny green-eyed woman instead of Andrew. "What did you do to Andrew?"

"If you're talking about the guy at the door, he'll be fine eventually. Now getting back to the subject at hand, you have something that belongs to me." Bonnie says as she glances down at an unconscious and bloodied Stefan. It takes everything in her not rush over to him, knowing that it would only make things worse.

At first Janet assumes that the woman is another vampire, but upon further study she can sense the power radiating from the petite woman and realizes that she is a fellow witch. Obviously if she's with this bastard she's gone dark and she wonders if she will have to take her out as well.

"So you're the vampire's girlfriend? I can't believe you would disgrace your line by lying down with a vampire."

Bonnie's initial response is to get angry, but she knows the woman is grieving so she stays calm. "You have the wrong guy. I'm not saying that Stefan is perfect by any means, but he didn't kill your children. I know the person that actually killed them and believe me I want nothing more to take the bastard out. I haven't had the best experiences with him either. But for me to be able to do that you have let Stefan go."

"That's what he said" Briefly glancing at Stefan. "but why should I believe you anymore than I believe him?"

"If you don't believe me, why don't you use our witch connection to figure out the truth?" Bonnie knows that she is opening up the risk of this woman deciding to take her out, but if it saves Stefan than it is worth the risk.

Janet is surprised by the gesture, knowing that it would put the other woman at risk, but she figures that at least she'll know for sure. At worst she would be taking out two people instead of one. She watches as Bonnie holds out her hand, obviously waiting for her to take it. She does and from the moment their hands touch, she is bombarded by images that indicate what Bonnie told her was true.

"You're part of the Bennett line of witches?" Janet gasps snatching her hand away, knowing that they are one of the most powerful and most loyal witch lines in the world. Regret fills her as she realizes that she kidnapped and tortured the wrong man.

Bonnie nods her head in confirmation "I'm very sorry for your loss." Bonnie's voice is soft. "I promise you that the Silas will be dealt with."

"Why are you so intent on taking him out?"

"It's the reason I was brought back to life." Bonnie says simply, knowing that Janet got a glimpse of her death and resurrection when she read her.

As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Bonnie is rushing over to Stefan in order to unchain Stefan. He begins to stir slightly and Bonnie hopes that he fully regains consciousness to it make it easier to get him out of here.

"Stefan, wake up." She lightly taps his face.

Stefan hears the voice of the woman he loves and assumes he's having another vision, but the voice keeps getting closer and closer. Opening his eyes, he is surprised to see Bonnie staring down at him in concern.

"Welcome back." She smiles tearfully caressing his cheek.

"Bonnie, when did you get here? Are you okay?" He asks in confusion despite the warmth he feels from Bonnie's hand.

His voice is so comically confused that Bonnie can't help but laugh at him a bit. "I haven't been here long." And then it hits her that one of the first things Stefan asks about her about is her own wellbeing despite going through torture.

Janet watches their exchange with new eyes. If she hadn't believed Bonnie before, the tender exchange between them would have convinced her. There is no way the same person that ruthlessly killed her children, would be able react to Bonnie with such love.

"I'm okay. It's you we should be worried about." Bonnie takes the towel that Janet hands her and wipes at one of Stefan's wounds. "Do you think you can stand up on your so we can get out of here?" If not she'll have to get Caroline and Elena to help.

Stefan nods and slowly makes an attempt to get up. Although it takes a few tries, he his eventually able to get on his feet. He has lean against Bonnie in order to keep from falling, but it still counts as far as he's concerned.

Bonnie slips an arm his waist in order to make it easier to hold on to him as they begin to walk out. She is almost out the door with him, she hears a voice.

"I really am sorry about this. The only thing I could think about was making the person that murdered my children pay. I know it doesn't make things right, but that why I did what I did." Janet's voice is filled with regret.

Bonnie nods her head, knowing how the woman feels. She's felt the same way about Damon and even Stefan to an extent in the past.

And with that they make their way out of the factory, Stefan leaning heavily against Bonnie as they walk to the car.

**Mystic Falls (Stefan's Bedroom)**

An hour later Stefan's strength has nearly come back and the wound in his leg is beginning to heal. Bonnie is waiting for him to come out of the shower so she can tend to the rest of his wounds. She hears the bathroom door open and sees Stefan out with a towel wrapped around his waist. Normally the sight of him nearly naked would turn her on, but she can only focus on the gaping wounds that litter his torso.

Stefan walks over to his drawer, pulling out a pair of sweat pants and quickly slips them on. When he turns around, he realizes Bonnie is looking at him intently. "Bonnie?"

"We really have to take care of those wounds. Get on the bed." She gestures toward the large bed before going to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

In no time, Bonnie has him patched up they eventually are lying together on the bed, with Bonnie mindful of his wounds.

"You were the only thing that kept me going while she was torturing me." His voice is subdued.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" She is cuddled against his side so her voice comes out slightly muffled.

"Not right now. I just want to lay here with you." He presses a soft kiss to her lips before lying back against the pillows.

"Okay." Bonnie's voice is just as soft.

The two continue to lay there in silence, quietly reflecting on the last few hours, before eventually falling asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Mystic Falls (Stefan's Home)**

Stefan sleepily wraps his arms tighter around Bonnie intending on going back to sleep when he hears someone at the door. Not wanting it disturb Bonnie, he quickly climbs out of bed and makes his way downstairs, only to frown when he sees who is at the door.

Damon stands at the door impatiently tapping his foot. He wants to say what he has to say and go back to his business, but of course his Stefan has to take forever to open the door.

"What do you want?" Stefan barks out as soon as he pulls the door open.

"I came to see how you were doing after what happened." Damon ignores Stefan's less than enthusiastic greeting and grins cockily at him.

"Okay you've seen me. Now you can go." He attempts to close the door, but Damon manages to push past him.

"What's with the hostility, brother?" Elena really has done a number on him is all Damon can think.

"Bonnie's asleep and I don't want you disturbing her." Stefan also wants to go back to the comfort of Bonnie's warm embrace, but he doesn't think that's really any of Damon's business.

"Speaking of the witch, that's actually why I'm here."

Stefan looks at him in confusion, not quite sure where Damon is going with this. "If you're here because you want some kind of spell or something. You should think again." Stefan knows he shouldn't be speaking for Bonnie, but he has no doubt that her response would be the same.

"That's not it." His eyes roll far back in his head. "I want you stop whatever it is you think you're doing with the witch." Damon demands arrogantly, pulling no punches.

"What exactly is it that you think I'm doing?" Stefan feels the anger rush through him, annoyed both at Damon's refusal to use Bonnie's name and because he has idea of where Damon's thoughts are going.

"I know you're only with her in order to make Elena jealous. I just wanted to let you know that Elena loves me, so this plan you have isn't going to work. So there is no need for you to use her best friend that way."

"The fact that you actually think I would do something like that to Bonnie says a lot more about you than it does about me." Stefan attempts to calm himself down; annoyed that Damon is downplaying his relationship with Bonnie. "What I had with Elena is over, I've moved on. I love Bonnie and I'm not giving her up." Stefan steps closer to Damon, anger flaring in his eyes.

"Oh come on you can't expect me to believe that you aren't still pining for my girlfriend." Damon looks at Stefan in disbelief. Stefan can say he no longer has feelings for Elena all he wants, but as far as he's concerned, his past behavior proves otherwise.

"I really don't care if you believe me or not. I don't have to prove a damn thing to you." And Stefan means that. All that matters to him is that Bonnie knows how he feels about her and that she feels the same way. Thinking of Bonnie brings a smile to his face and it makes him want Damon to leave all the more so he can get back to her.

"You're right you don't have to prove anything to me. Just make sure you remember who got the girl and that when I have something, I'm very determined to keep it." His voice is deadly as he refers to his past determination to find Katherine.

Fed up, Stefan opens the door silently indicating that he wants Damon to leave.

Damon angrily walks out annoyed that he hasn't seemed to deter his brother from his ridiculous plan. Oh well he'll just have to watch out for Stefan more.

Stefan closes the door behind him. He lets out a long exhale, washing the annoyance from Damon's visit away. He turns around and is surprised to see Bonnie standing at the bottom of the stairs watching him with an unreadable expression on her face. Walking over to her, Stefan presses a kiss to her lips.

"I was hoping to get him out of here before you had chance to wake up."

Bonnie smiles weakly at him. She woke up when she heard the raised voices, panicking for a moment thinking Stefan was in danger until she remembered that he was safe and sound.

"How are your wounds today?" She softly touches one of the bandages that covers his shoulder.

"They are actually lot better. I think I should be fully healed within a few hours." He changes the subject, wondering how much she heard. "So, how much of that did you hear?"

"Enough to know that Damon is still a possessive jackass that treats Elena like she's a prize to be won." Bonnie's voice is filled with annoyance on behalf of Elena.

"You noticed that too." He also picked up on it during their argument, but decided not to say anything knowing Damon would only use it for evidence to support his theory about him wanting Elena. He silently wonders if Bonnie is going to say anything to Elena

Reading his mind Bonnie answers his unasked question. "I learned a while ago not to get in the middle of that relationship. Nothing I say is going to change Elena's mind." She shrugs helplessly. She hopes that will change eventually, but for now she will keep her opinions to herself.

When Bonnie suddenly yawns, Stefan remembers the little amount of sleep she's had and decides they could to get her back upstairs.

"Let's get you back to bed." Stefan says as he brushes his lips across her forehead before taking her hand in his and walking them up the stairs.

**Mystic Falls (Mystic Grill)**

Several hours later, Bonnie and Stefan are at the Grill engaged in a game of pool. Or Stefan amends, Bonnie's playing pool while he finds himself distracted by her. He gets distracted by the cocky glint in her eyes whenever she makes a shot, the way she looks in the jeans she's wearing, not to mention the mixture of intoxicating scents wafting from her. As a result she's managed to beat him several times tonight, though he's not complaining since it brings a smile to her face.

He watches as Bonnie makes another shot, he eyes lingering on her ass as she bends down. She sinks it and rights herself, but before she can turn to gloat, he hauls her into a hot and wet kiss. She moans into his mouth and he briefly moves his tongue around tasting the chocolate from the milkshake she had as well as her own unique taste. However before he can further deepen the kiss, Bonnie pulls away, a slightly dazed expression present on her face. When it clears their eyes meet and they share a long heated look.

"We should get back to the game." Bonnie is the first to break their staring contest, knowing that continuing along this route would not be very wise. At least while they are in a public place.

Stefan shifts in attempt to calm his hormones down, hoping that no one notices the slight bulge he's sporting.

"I need to get something to drink. Do you want anything?" He figures getting something cold will help cool him down.

Bonnie shakes her head no.

"I'll be right back." Stefan brushes a kiss against her cheek before walking over to the counter.

Bonnie grins at him knowingly before turning back to the pool table. Bonnie is just getting ready to attempt another shot when she hears a throat clearing behind her. She quickly spins around only groan in annoyance when she sees Jeremy glaring at her, obviously still looking for a fight. She sets the pool stick down on the table, figuring she would be less tempted to use it on him if she's no longer holding it.

"What do you want, Jeremy?" Not really wanting to deal with him especially after the last twenty four hours, but knowing they need to have it out.

"What do you mean 'what do I want?' You threw me across the room like a rag doll last night. I can't believe you would do something like that." Jeremy's voice is angry despite finding out that she was rescuing Stefan. As far as Jeremy's concerned the world would have been better off without the bastard that stole his girl.

"I asked you to get out of my way and you refused. I did what I had to do and I'm not sorry for it." Bonnie keeps her voice level mindful of the crowd of people around them.

"Bonnie, can't you see what he's doing to you?" He steps closer to her. "He has you sacrificing yourself and your morals for him when he'll only let you down in the end."

"So it was perfectly fine for me make sacrifices for you, but if I do it for someone else, you have something to say. And if I remember correctly, you ended up letting me down." She really doesn't want to bring up the situation with Anna, but him acting so self-righteous about Stefan makes her want to lash out.

"I've apologized and apologized for that. What will it take for you to let it go?"

"That's just it, I have let it go. I don't care anymore about it anymore. I've moved on and so have you by the way." Bonnie thinks of Hannah and her anger rises. The few times Bonnie has met her, she's been nice and she really doesn't deserve this.

"Have I?" Jeremy looks at her meaningfully.

"What are you saying?" Bonnie stiffens not liking where this more than likely going.

"I'm saying I only moved on because I hoped you would realize you could lose me. But instead you decide to spread your legs for the first guy to give you a little attention."

Bonnie eyes flash with fury, but before she can say anything in response they are interrupted.

"Is there a problem here?" Stefan's steely voice breaks through Jeremy's angry haze and he turns around to face the vampire.

Stefan purposely makes his glare as intimidating as possible, inwardly smirking when the younger Gilbert backs up slightly. He softens his features when he glances over at Bonnie. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Stefan." Bonnie's previously cold voice takes on a slighter warmer tone when she looks at Stefan.

"This has nothing to do with you." Jeremy jealously interrupts the brief moment between vampire and witch.

"I think it has everything to do with me." Stefan's anger flares up. Bonnie told him about the argument she had with him they day before as well as their other confrontation later on. He couldn't help but chuckle at image of Jeremy flying through the air. Stefan had hoped that would wake the boy up, but obviously that hasn't happened. And after hearing that last barb, Stefan wonders if maybe it's time to teach him a little lesson.

Bonnie sensing a storm, moves in between them and presses her palms Stefan's chest in an attempt to calm him down some. It works a little, but she knows Stefan is still brimming with fury so she turns to Jeremy to give him one last parting thought before they leave.

"I don't know what it is that you're trying to accomplish here, but like I told you before. We're done. I was hoping we could be friends, but that obviously isn't possible." After she's finished she turns back toward Stefan and they silently make their way out outside, Bonnie's arm slipping around his waist.

Jeremy looks on with anger and is planning on making his own exit when he sees Hannah in the corner of his eye. He blanches when he remembers that they were supposed to be meeting here and based on the angry look on her face, she heard a lot of what was said.

"Hannah…" Jeremy begins knowing that she at least deserves an explanation.

"Don't!" Her voice is quiet yet determined. "I knew something was up with you, but I couldn't figure out what. I guess now I know." She had known about his past relationship with Bonnie, but stupidly assumed that it was in the past for the both of them.

"Just so you know, you and me are done." After that she turns to leave.

"Hannah…wait." Jeremy 'pleads, but she walks out without looking at him.

For the second time today he's watches as another girl he cares about walks out on him.

**Mystic Falls (Outside the Mystic Grill)**

As soon as Stefan and Bonnie make outside, Stefan finds himself pressed against the wall.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asks confused yet intrigued.

"I can feel the anger radiating off of you. The way I see it as your girlfriend, it's my job to calm you down and take your mind off what just happened."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

Bonnie says nothing instead she moves her hands to his face and slowly caresses his cheeks. After a few moments she removes her hands and replaces them with her lips. She presses a kiss to each cheek, his forehead, and his neck before pulling away to look at him.

Stefan exhales and is happy to find that his anger is slowly fading away. They continue staring at each other intensely; the last remnants of anger fade away, turning into desire. Without warning they lunge at each other their mouths meeting in a frantic kiss.

Bonnie gasps when Stefan turns them around and slams her against the brick wall that he was previously against. Their kiss becomes all the more heated and when Bonnie pulls back to catch her breath, he begins sucking on her neck. Before long Bonnie can feel his erection poking against her.

"As much as I'm enjoying this, I'm not the exhibitionist type. So I think we should get out of here before we do just that." She slides out of Stefan's embrace and begins moving forward when she hears Stefan's voice behind her.

"You know I love you right?" His eyes are dazzling and shine with the love he feels.

"I love you too" Bonnie gives him a bright grin before hugging him tightly.

Damon watches their interaction quietly, it suddenly hitting him that Stefan actually has moved on from Elena. He should feel happy, but for some reason he's feeling the opposite. He shakes himself out those thoughts when he realizes that Bonnie and Stefan are moving closer to him. Not wanting to deal with them at the moment, he hangs back so Bonnie and Stefan won't see him.

When Bonnie and Stefan walk past him, Damon can't stop himself from checking Bonnie out. She looks good, something that he's noticed before on several occasions, but today it seems to be on display more. He suddenly wonders what a relationship with Bonnie would be like.

* * *

**_Two Months Later_**

Two months have gone by and Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena have finally managed to get settled into college life. They moved into their dorm suite with the help of Tyler, Matt, and Stefan. (Damon opted not to come.) Rudy, Abby, and Carol threw them a party before they left and while they still miss their parents, Elena, Bonnie and Caroline are glad to be on their own at the moment.

Jeremy decided to move in with Matt and Tyler, no longer comfortable with living with Damon without Elena as a buffer. The two of them decided on attending the local junior college and since they would still be in town. He's still dealing with the aftermath of what happened with Bonnie and Hannah. And other than Elena (who has to talk to him, though she isn't very happy about it) he's only speaking terms with Matt and Tyler. Hannah still refuses to talk to him and has even began seeing someone new, leaving Jeremy alone.

Despite the distance, Bonnie and Caroline's relationships with Stefan and Tyler have continued to flourish. Both couples make it a priority to each other as often as possible by going back forth between their residences. Meanwhile, Damon and Elena's relationship has grown strained. Elena feels Damon pulling away and she can't figure out why. Still she tries to keep a happy appearance, hoping that things will eventually get better.

**Whitmore College (Wooded area)**

A tall and lanky vampire stands in his usual hiding spot waiting for prey to snatch. He never would have figured that a college campus would be a great place for food, but it is. He'll however, have to move from this particular campus eventually because he is getting the feeling he's being watched.

About fifty feet away, Bonnie walks side by side with Caroline and Elena flanking her. They have been tracking this vampire for a few days and today is finally the day they will catch the bastard. There have been quite a few unexplained deaths in the area over the last two weeks and they quickly figured out that it was vampire related. Ever since then they've been trying to find the culprit to prevent any more casualties from happening. It's funny, they had assumed that going away to school would give them normalcy than they had in high school, but so far it's proving not to be the case.

Elena spots the vampire first and points him out to Caroline and Bonnie. Silently they begin to get ready for plan they formulated earlier. Bonnie will incapacitate him by giving him an aneurism, leaving it up to Elena and Caroline to do the rest.

Bonnie begins her part in the plan and the vampire collapses to his knees, his head searing with pain. Elena is just about charge him when a bolt hits him in the heart and he turns into dust. Shocked, the three women turn around and are surprised to see a tall (at least 6'5) handsome and muscular African-American guy holding a crossbow in his hand.

"I love the sound this thing makes." The brown-eyed man briefly looks at his crossbow before looking back at Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena with a wry smile.

**New York (Silas & Qetsiyah's Boardinghouse)**

Katherine moans as Elijah rapidly lifts her up and down in his lap. Since she's not facing him she can't see his face in order to see how turned on he is. Instead she clenches her inner muscles around his cock and is rewarded when he grunts and proceeds to speed up his thrusts even more. She gasps as his hands move from her hips to her breasts and he squeezes them softly. Elijah begins kissing her neck and she feels the beginnings of her climax when she feels the pressure build up in her body. Aware of this and heading to his own climax, he starts pounding while whispering dirty demands against her neck. Before long they are both in the midst of a powerful orgasm that weakens them both. They collapse into the leather chair they are sitting in, cuddling happily against each other.

The last person she had expected to run into when she came to New York a couple months ago with Qetsiyah and Silas was Elijah. She had been celebrating going back being a vampire by draining on as many people as possible when she ran into Elijah. She had compelled an attractive newlywed couple (intending on sleeping with him while she forced the wife to watch) when Elijah suddenly appeared. She had been angry when she realized he was standing there. Mostly because when they last saw each other she did something she thought she would never do for anyone- beg. So despite still feeling drawn to him, she decided to walk away because there was no way she was going beg him for anything again. Instead she decided to stay focused on the couple she planned on draining, ignoring Elijah's presence.

That of course pissed off Elijah who didn't like the thought of her fucking another man (human or otherwise) and before she knew it they were both back at her place going at it, using the woman as a meal while the husband was tied to a chair and forced to watch them. Later they drained the man as well and after another round of sex, fell asleep in her bed. A few hours later they woke up and Elijah revealed that he realized quickly that being in New Orleans with Klaus wasn't all that appealing and that he would much rather be with Katherine. So when he found out where she was he purposely followed her to New York with the intention of getting her back.

Now here they were together and they have both been working with Silas and Qetsiyah to take out Stefan and Bonnie. She's surprised that it is taking so long for the plan to unfold, but she knows that the longer it takes the more successful the plan will be.

** Mystic Falls (Bar)**

Damon sits in a booth by himself, a glass of scotch in his hand. Normally he would be drinking at home, but he wanted to be in the public today. He really should be going to see Elena at school, but he doesn't feel like seeing her. Lately he's been finding himself bored and restless and he knows it's because Stefan has actually moved on from Elena. He had found it exhilarating to finally have something over his brother, but now that that has changed, his relationship with Elena isn't as great as it once was. He loves her, but the excitement is missing and has no idea how to get it back.

He is broken out of his thoughts when two busty Pamela Anderson lookalikes sidle up to him. They introduce themselves as Adriana and Donna and they both make it more than obvious that they would like nothing more than to go home with him.

When Damon feels his cock harden he suddenly wonders if this might be the answer to his problems.

**Whitmore College (Wooded Area)**

Bane Granger sniffs the air as he looks at the trio of women. Based on the scents he is picking up, the blonde and the brunette are vampires like him while the shorter green-eyed woman is a witch. A very powerful witch if the vibes he's getting prove anything. "Ladies." He greets them with a nod. He has always been a sucker for beautiful women and the three women fit the bill magnificently.

"Who are you?" Bonnie is the one to find her voice first. Bonnie notes that he's wearing a daywalker ring on his right hand (the same hand as Stefan) which indicates that he is a vampire. Because of his towering height, she has to crane her head in order to meet his eyes.

"Brisbane, but everyone calls me Bane. And you are?" He smiles and it's hard for them not to be taken in by his charming grin which is enhanced by the look in his brown eyes. Caroline is the first to break and introduces herself as well as Bonnie and Elena.

"Now that's we've introduced ourselves, you want to tell us why exactly you were out here in the woods stalking vampires." Caroline is curious why the handsome vampire would be out on a college campus.

"The same thing as you three apparently. I mean why else would a witch and two vampires be in the woods this late." He gives them a knowing look before putting away his crossbow. "I heard about the murders and knew right away who was responsible. I've been tracking this guy for a few days and I finally caught up with him today. That is why I stepped in just now."

"There was no need for you to step in. We were perfectly capable of taking care of that bastard." Elena looks at him in annoyance.

"I never said you weren't. It's just that I've been tracking him for days and the thought of someone else making that kill was not an option." There is nothing worse than being denied a rightful kill.

"Maybe we felt the same way. Did you ever think of that?" Elena raises her voice. "No instead you act some big macho white knight that needs to come in and save us poor damsels" Elena walks closer to him her nostrils flaring with anger.

"That's not what I was doing, but if you had moved faster you might have been able to take him out before I did." Bane snaps angrily surprising himself. He has always been able to hold back his emotions, but for some reason Elena has managed to spark them up without much effort.

"That doesn't still doesn't explain why you're out here on campus." Bonnie breaks up the argument to focus on the reason they all there in the first place. Later she'll note that Elena seems overly hostile to Bane which is unusual for her friend that has tendency to be nice to every new person she meets. As for right now, Bonnie doesn't want to be suspicious, but other than Elena and Caroline she doesn't come across too many vampires on campus. And she wants to make sure this new vamp won't be a threat to them.

"I'm a student here. I do the college thing during the day and what most would call vampire hunting at night." Once again his wide grin is place and this time Bonnie can't help but smile back. She is still somewhat suspicious of him, but she actually getting good vibes from him.

"Why would a vampire hunt other vampires." Caroline asks wondering if he could be a potential threat.

"I'll tell you, but can we talk about this in some place other than woods. Having a conversation like this is a little creepy. How about I treat you all to dinner at the den?"

"We don't need you to pay for our dinner." Elena snaps irritably only to roll her eyes when Caroline pokes in the gut with her elbow.

"A hot guy wants to buy us dinner and he doesn't want anything in return. I for one am going to take advantage of that." Caroline whispers to her, resulting in an eye roll from Elena.

Bonnie laughs at their antics before glancing at Bane. "Lead the way."

She indicates with her hand and the four of them beginning making their way out of the woods.

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse)**

Damon grunts in pleasure as Donna and Adriana take turns sucking his cock. He grins as both women get more brazen with each suck, both competing to give him the most pleasure. They have different techniques; Donna goes for the deep throating method that sends pleasure to his spine while Adriana goes for a different method that makes him feel as though his head will burst. At one point they decide to share and both women begin licking him at the same time. Eventually he gets bored with that and pulls Adriana's mouth away from him and slams her down on his cock. He snaps his finger indicating that he wants Donna to climb on top of his face. She smiles saucily and quickly crawls over to him, promptly sitting down on his face. She tastes fantastic and it makes him want to take some of her blood, but he decides against it because he didn't compel the women before he took them and he doesn't feel like stopping do to so right now.

Instead, he continues to screw both women fiercely, changing positions frequently. At one point he's taking Donna from behind while she has her face in Adriana's mound. It seems as though the longer he fucks them the hornier he grows something that obviously pleases both women.

Later, Damon is lying in bed, Donna and Adriana are cuddled on either side of him fast asleep. He thinks about Elena, while there is a part of him that feels bad for hurting her this way, he doesn't really feel all that guilty. He has been bored by his relationship as of late and tonight gave him the adrenaline rush he needed. Damon figures that he can still do the relationship thing with Elena and get the rush he's craving by having one night stands.

Finally satisfied with his solution, he falls asleep a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

**Whitmore College (Dorm Suite)**

A couple hours later, Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline return to their suite after having dinner with Bane. It had been an interesting and weirdly fun night. And it led to them deciding to exchanging information to hang out another time. It had been nice talking to someone who wasn't in their inner circle about supernatural things. They talked about vampires, witchcraft and other subjects. When Bonnie had wondered why he knew so much about witchcraft, Bane revealed that he had been born into a family of witches over 300 years ago. He had been a fairly powerful witch until his entire family was killed and he was turned. And despite no longer being able to practice magic, he still studies the subject because it make him feel closer to his family. Caroline had been impressed when he revealed that he hasn't had any human blood in years and sticks to animal blood that he buys from a butcher friend of his. She and Bonnie had both been impressed when he told them the reason he became a vampire hunter. He had gone through his own ripper stage and initially did to atone for that, but found that he actually liked helping people.

The only one that hadn't been impressed was Elena and she let Bane know it every chance she got. Not taking it lying down, Bane fired back. As a result, throughout the night Bonnie and Caroline had watched the two of them with fascination as they traded snarky barbs back and forth.

"Okay, what was with you tonight? I'm supposed to the 'bitchy' one." Caroline asks as soon as they reach their shared suite.

"She's right you know" Bonnie nods her head in agreement, ducking when Caroline playfully swats at her.

"I think he's a conceited jerk." Is all she says before heading to her room and closing the door behind her.

Bonnie and Caroline share an amused look. They've never seen Elena so animated and they both wonder what exactly it about this guy that seems to set Elena off.

After talking for a few more minutes, Caroline eventually heads to her room, while Bonnie decides to go their shared bathroom to take a shower.

**Whitmore College (Bonnie's Room)**

After her shower, Bonnie goes back to her room dressed in pair of boxer shorts and a tank. She closes the door behind her and is just about to head to her bed when she realizes that she isn't alone. She sees Stefan lounging in her desk chair, a wicked grin on his face. "I missed you."

"Stefan? How did you get in here?" Her voice is filled with a mixture of confusion and happiness. She knows that he would only be let in if she or her friends let him in and since they weren't here that obviously hadn't been an option.

"I have my ways. And before you ask I didn't have to compel anyone to get in here." Stefan quickly stands up eager to touch her, but before he can get halfway across the room, Bonnie is already in his arms. Their lips meet in a fiery kiss and Bonnie melts into the kiss. They kiss frantically for several moments until Bonnie pulls away and begins dragging him over to her bed.

On the way over they manage to pull off his leather jacket before he lands on the bed, Bonnie straddling him. She lifts her shirt over her head leaving her bare. Stefan looks up at her, lust evident in his gaze and he feels his already hardened erection rise. She grinds down on it causing them both to groan in pleasure. Stefan pulls her down for another kiss only to frown in disappointment when she pulls away.

"I think you're a little over dressed." She says before she lifts the hem of his black t shirt up. He helps her by lifting his arms and eventually joins her tank and his leather jacket on the floor. As always, she feels the excitement run through her when she takes in Stefan's naked torso. In response he thrusts upward, grinning sly when Bonnie attempts to hold back her gasp.

She grinds back down on him watching as his jaw muscles contract forcefully while his hands clutch tightly at her hips. She grins slightly as it becomes obvious that she's torturing him some, loving the rush of power and desire it gives her.

Without warning she finds her shorts being ripped off her and Stefan is undoing his pants. She helps him take them off, smirking when she realizes that he went commando today. Soon they are both naked and staring at each other with an intense desire. Bonnie sits up slightly before slowly sliding down on his shaft. She rides him slowly, her head thrown back in ecstasy while Stefan's head thrashes back and forth.

Eventually the pleasure becomes too much for Stefan he shifts turning them over so Bonnie is the one her back. He begins thrusting in earnest, his cock pushing deep inside of her. Before the small room is becomes filled with their grunts, gasps, and moans.

**Whitmore College (Dorm Suite)**

Caroline is surprised to see Elena in the kitchen with holding a mug of blood when she comes out of her room. She had assumed the other woman had gone to bed, but obviously not.

"I'm sorry about earlier." Elena is the first to speak. "It's just that I'm frustrated because of what's been going on with Damon the last couple of months."

"So you admit that you were kind of harsh with Bane." She teases, giving Elena her trademark grin.

"No. I still think he's a jerk, but I didn't mean to take my anger out on you and Bonnie." She doesn't know what it is about Bane that gets to her, but she doesn't want it interfering with her friendships with Bonnie and Caroline. "How are you doing?" She looks up at Caroline, having read the look on her face.

"I'm feeling a little restless. Normally I would be with Tyler or he'd be here, but he's out of town with Matt and your brother." She pouts slightly before sobering up. "This is pathetic it's Friday night and we're here pouting about our relationships. I say we go out for a drink."

"Sure, I'll go get changed." She says before heading back into her room.

Caroline who had yet to change out of her earlier clothes decides to go get Bonnie. When she gets to the door, she is just about to twist the knob when she hears the squeaking of bed springs as well as moans and grunts that are obviously attributed to Bonnie and Stefan. He must have surprised Bonnie by coming to see her this weekend. She listens to them unabashedly for several seconds before she moves away from the door.

Elena comes out of her room only to frown in confusion when she sees the wicked grin on Caroline's face. "I thought you were going to get Bonnie and what's with the grin?"

"Bonnie's a little busy right now, she definitely won't miss us at all."

"What do you…" Elena starts to ask only to trail off when Caroline's grin turns into a leer. "Oh" A silly grin appearing on her own face as she realizes that Stefan and Bonnie are obviously getting it on as they speak.

Shaking her head in amusement, Elena slips her arm through Caroline and they walk out of the suite, both planning on ragging on Bonnie and Stefan about this later on.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N - I'm sorry it took so long to update. I actually began writing this chapter right after I posted chapter 12, but I lost my inspiration for this story when I began to hear some of the spoilers for Season 5. The spoilers gave me inspiration for my other stories, but I found it hard to write for this one where the relationships have been mended for the most part. Ultimately, I decided to not watch the show because I'd rather not see Bonnie be treated the way she is. As a result, I was able to power through and finish the chapter. So here it is.**

* * *

**New York (Witches Manor)**

Candles cover every square inch of the room and slowly by slowly each of them lights up. A large group of about twenty witches stand in a circle, the leader of the group, Angela stands in the center. Angela is just getting ready to recite the spell when they hear a loud crash. They turn toward the sound and see a dark-haired male jump through the window, followed by a more fair-haired male.

It's obvious from the look on both men's faces that the two are vampires which startles the women since the manor is supposed to have a protection from vampires on it.

"I'm going to enjoy this very much." Elijah is the first to speak and the menacing look on his face makes it clear his intentions will not be good for the witches.

"How did you get in here?" Angela glares at the men, trying not to show how intimidated she is by them. She can feel how powerful the two men are and despite the powers they all wield. If the two vampires have managed to break the protection spell, it won't be easy fight at all.

"I think I can answer that." Qetsiyah saunters in, power radiating off her with every step she takes. Katherine is right behind her.

"You did this." Angela senses right away that the short green-eyed woman is a witch, an extremely powerful one. "Why would you betray you own kind for vampires?"

"Because you have something I want" Qetsiyah answers coldly and before any of the women can react, she's throwing a potion on the ground.

The women stand paralyzed as their power slowly seep out of them and into Silas, Katherine and Elijah. The remaining power goes to Qetsiyah who smiles after the potion done and she feels herself get stronger. "I told you it would work." She directs to Elijah who had been cautious about the plan in the beginning.

Silas walks over to Qetsiyah dragging her into a hot kiss before pulling away. "Now it's our turn."He grins wickedly at her before glancing at Elijah and Katherine.

The three exchange glances before the each speed across the room, each of them draining the witches' blood as quickly as they can. Before long all the women are piled on the floor and Elijah and Silas are wiping blood from themselves.

"I don't know why you men always insist on being such messy eaters." Katherine looks at them from her position next to Qetsiyah.

Elijah chuckles and wraps an arm around her waist and they follow Silas and Qetsiyah out of the building, now all the more closer to their end goal of taking out the Mystic Falls gang.

**Whitmore College (Bonnie's Room)**

The first thing Stefan sees when he opens his eyes is Bonnie standing in front of the bed. A smile begins to form at the sight, only to turn into a frown when he realizes she's preparing to leave. "Where are you going?" He asks his voice husky with sleep.

"I have to go to class." She says regretfully, a pout appearing on her face. Despite spending the entire weekend with Stefan, she doesn't want to leave him. She would much rather stay in bed with him, but this particular class has mandatory attendance.

Stefan sits up as she hurriedly walks over to bed and sits on the edge in order to slip her boots on. As she leans down to pick one up, her shirt rides up her back and he gets distracted by the exposed patch of skin there.

"You should go back to sleep, we were up pretty late last night."

"Hmmh…" Still focused on her exposed skin, Stefan barely hears her. When she bends back down to pull on her other boot, he grabs the hem of shirt, pulls it higher up and presses a kiss there before trailing his tongue down to the small of her back.

"Stefan—" She tenses, as the arousal flows through her body. Before she can move, Stefan wraps an arm around her waist and hooks a finger in the belt loop of her jeans. "I really have to go."

When she makes a move to stand up, he tugs at the loop, pulling her back down. She manages to extract herself, but not before pressing a kiss to his mouth. She grabs her jacket and messenger bag before heading to the door. "I only have two classes today, so after that I'm all yours." She smiles at him warmly and then closes the door behind her.

Stefan smiles in wonder, staring at the now closed door before grabbing Bonnie's pillow and lying back down. Getting some sleep is the only way he will be able to ignore his arousal.

**Mystic Falls (Boardinghouse)**

The moment his fangs sink into the blonde's neck, Damon feels a jolt to his cock and he begins thrusting harder into her from behind. He really missed fucking and feeding at the same time. Elena doesn't really approve of feeding off humans, preferring to drink animal blood or from blood bags. Damon however, would much rather drink from a beautiful woman. Not only does he get the benefit of meal, but he also gets some pussy out of it. The best part is that he didn't even have to leave the boardinghouse to get it this time.

He had been woken up by the doorbell and when he'd gone to see who it was a sexy blonde had been standing there. She was in town to visit some friends and hadn't realized she was the wrong address. It had been obvious that she found him attractive and had no problems letting him know she wanted him to fuck her. The blood rushed to his groin and his stomach grumbled and he decided that she would be perfect solution for both his needs. So he compelled her and within a minute he'd had her naked in his bed and he was fucking her like a farm animal.

He had been planning on giving her an orgasm before feeding, but he eventually grew impatient and now here they were. He continues thrusting above her until he feels himself start to come and then he's collapsing on top of her. After a few more sips his loosens his hold from her neck and slips out of her. Knowing she didn't have the chance to come, he quickly turns her over and presses his mouth to her pussy, licking at her folds until she finally comes against his face.

As soon as she comes down from her high, he's off the bed and tossing her dress at her. Five minutes later she's gone and he's both full and sated. It is then that he remembers he's supposed to be meeting Elena at the college for lunch. Cursing, he rushes to the shower so he can get ready. Hopefully he can get there fairly quickly because he would rather not hear Elena bitch about him being late.

**Whitmore College (Lecture Hall)**

Bonnie pulls a notebook out of bag in order to take notes for her history class, when she suddenly feels a breeze. She looks up and is surprised to see Bane standing in front of her. "Hi." She greets him simply, though it's tinged with some confusion at running into him here of all places.

"Hey" He greets her back with a smile. "I didn't realize you were in this class too." He had been pleasantly surprised to see the green-eyed witch when walked in the lecture hall. "Mind if I sit?" He gestures toward the empty seat next to her.

"It's fine." She smiles at him, watching as he slides his large frame into the seat.

"So how was your weekend? I didn't really see you around." He asks and Bonnie can hear the mirth in his voice. He'd run into Caroline a few times and he'd seen Elena, who made a point of ignoring him, but Bonnie had been missing from each of those encounters.

"It was nice." Bonnie flushes heatedly, when she remembers what she and Stefan had spent most of the weekend doing.

"I can tell." He looks at her knowingly. "You have a hickey on the side of left side of your neck." He points toward the mark.

Bonnie pulls out her compact, frowning when she spies a long red mark on her neck. How did she miss seeing that when was getting ready. "I'm going to kill Stefan." She mutters under her breath. She doesn't mind him marking her, but she prefers when he does it in less visible places.

"Stefan is the boyfriend you mentioned the other day, right?" Bane gets out between laughs.

"Yeah, he came to visit me for the weekend."

"Speaking of boyfriends, I know Caroline mentioned one, but what about Elena. Is she seeing anyone?" Bane tries to ask as smoothly as possibly, but knows that Bonnie picked up on his interest based on the knowing look she gives him.

"Not very subtle" She teases earning a sheepish smile from Bane before she quickly sobers up. "Yeah she's actually dating Stefan's brother."

"Is that why she's so hostile, because of the boyfriend?"

"I've never really seen Elena act like that before. For some reason you just bring it out of her. I'm not sure if you should take that as a compliment or not." She is still somewhat perplexed by Elena's attitude, but Bonnie has to admit likes it because it's the most animated she's seen Elena in a while.

Bane is about to respond when the professor walks in, promptly ending the conversation between them.

**Whitmore College (Dorm Suite)**

Stefan and Caroline look on as Elena nervously makes rushes into her dorm room to get ready for her lunch with Damon. Not having Bonnie there with him made it impossible for him to sleep, so he'd gotten dressed and ventured out of Bonnie's room. The last hour or so has been spent catching up with Caroline and Elena since he'd seen very little of either of them during the weekend. Stefan loves that he and Elena have gotten to the point where they can be friends without any awkwardness.

Within a few minutes Elena opens the door and heads to the bathroom with a hairdryer. When the hairdryer is turned on, Caroline turns to Stefan, making it clear she has something important to talk about.

"What's wrong?" Stefan gives her a knowing look.

"Okay, I hate to ask, but since I know Elena won't…" She glances at the bathroom door before continuing her sentence. "Have you noticed anything different about Damon lately?"

"No." He shakes his head. "The only time I really have any contact with him is when we're all together as a group." And he can't say he is all that upset about it, they really have nothing to say to each other for the most part. "Why?" He asks when she doesn't say anything else.

"He's been kind of distant lately and-" Caroline begins to say when she hears the hairdryer shut off. Knowing the conversation will have to wait until later, she changes the subject. "So when are you headed back to Mystic Falls."

"Tired of looking at my face?" He jokes sharing a smile with her before answering the question. "Tonight actually, I have to pick up a supply of blood. I can pick up yours too if you want me to and Tyler can bring to you."

"That would great. It would save me a trip." She smiles in gratitude before the door opens and Elena walks out fully dressed.

"So what did I miss?" Elena's gaze goes back and forth between the two.

X

Bane and Bonnie walk side by side across campus deep in conversation. After their class was over, Bane offered to walk her back to the dorm and Bonnie accepted, so he could meet Stefan. In the meantime, their conversation turned from their history class to witchcraft. She has to admit she is actually enjoying discussing it with someone who is not related to her that actually has experience with it.

"Do you ever miss it?" Bonnie asks as they walk past a group of drooling girls. Bane doesn't seem to notice and Bonnie has to if it's because he's just gotten used to that particular reaction or if he's too much of gentleman to say anything.

"Miss what?" He glances at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Witchcraft."

"All the time" He confirms with a touch of sadness in his voice. "That's why I still read up on it despite not being able to practice anymore." He sighs. "It sucks that I can't feel the elements the same way or perform spells, but at least I still get to do some good by using vampire abilities."

Bonnie nods in empathy. She couldn't imagine not being able to use magic ever again. She'll admit she didn't always embrace it, but now she couldn't imagine that not being a part of her life. So she feels for Bane in the respect.

"So" Bane decides to change the subject, not wanting to focus on himself anymore. "I couldn't help but notice that you're also immortal." He says this quietly, not wanting the people walking past them to hear. "How did that happen?" He bites back a laugh at her look of surprise.

"That's kind of a long story." She begins , "A story that will have to wait for another time" She says slyly only to groan when she spots Damon sauntering over to them. She rolls her eyes, waiting until he comes to a stop in front of her and Bane before she acknowledges his presence.

"Witchy." Damon greets Bonnie, ignoring the tall muscular guy standing next to her despite being curious about him. Inwardly, he wonders if this could lead to trouble in paradise for his brother's relationship and delight runs through him at the thought.

"Jackass" She greets him, annoyance bubbling up inside of her.

"Who's the guy?" Bane asks curiously, noticing the tension between the witch and vampire. He had noticed Bonnie's demeanor change as soon as the dark-haired guy walked up to her. Since there was only annoyance radiating off her, he quickly determined that the vamp wasn't a danger.

"This is Elena's boyfriend Damon. And this is Bane" She points to Bane who stands up straighter when Damon looks at him.

"Sup." Bane nods his head in greeting. It's barely been five minutes and he already dislikes the guy. It's clear he and Bonnie don't exactly get along and he has the feeling from the way Caroline talked about him that she isn't a huge fan of him either. He can only hope it's just a wrong first impression because otherwise he doesn't get what Elena sees in him.

"You do realize that's a vampire?" Damon really doesn't want to have to snap and any necks today, but will if he needs to.

"So?" Bonnie tilts her head, wondering where he's going with this.

"So, you're just going to let him walk around?" Damon looks at Bonnie in surprise. Normally she would be the first to want to take out a new vampire.

"I let you walk around don't I." She throws back at him, causing Bane to laugh slightly.

"Does Stefan know about this guy?" Damon looks at her, purposely making his tone suspicious.

"I'm choosing to ignore whatever it is you're trying to imply." She folds her arms across her chest.

"Whatever." He rolls his eyes. "Where's Elena?" He demands rudely. He really doesn't really want to waste his time with Bonnie and the tall vampire when he could be in bed with Elena.

"Elena's right here" Elena's voice breaks into the tension-filled atmosphere.

The three turn and see Elena along with Stefan and Caroline walking out of the dorm. Bonnie smiles as soon as she spots Stefan and quickly walks over to him, not protesting when he pulls her in for a brief kiss.

"I thought I left you in bed."Bonnie says after she pulls away from his lips. She has to admit she is a bit surprised to see him so soon.

"I couldn't sleep, so I figured I might as well get up." He looks from her to Bane. "This must be the guy you and Caroline mentioned meeting." He pulls slightly away from Bonnie to offer a handshake. "I'm Stefan."

"Bane." Bane offers in return, shaking his hand before turning to greet Caroline and Elena with a smile. "We meet again."

"Hey" Caroline smiles back, but Elena only utters out a terse greeting. Inwardly, however she feels a flare of energy run through at the look on Bane's face.

Damon, having picked up on Bane's interest, Damon pulls Elena into a passionate kiss making it obvious to everyone present that he's putting on a show. After a few moments, he pulls away. "I'm not looking really looking to hang out with my little brother or your two best-friends, so we should get to going." And before Elena can say anything, he begins to walk off; assuming Elena will come after him.

Elena sighs, giving the others a sad smile before walking in Damon's direction, leaving the others to watch her with various degrees of annoyance.

"No offense, but your brother seems like an asshole." He directs to Stefan, who observed watching with a frown on his face.

"None taken." Stefan shrugs with a smirk. "He usually has that affect on people."

Caroline and Bonnie watch them in amusement as their conversation shifts from Damon's less desirable attributes to literature. The conversation grows animated as they discover that they like a lot of the same authors and before long Bane is offering to hang out with Stefan while Caroline and Bonnie attend their next class.

"I'll bring him back in a few hours." Bane grins at them before the vampires walk off together.

"I can't believe he kidnapped my boyfriend." Bonnie laughs in amused shock.

"And that Stefan actually went willingly." Caroline giggles in just as much shock as Bonnie.

**Lake (Not Far from Campus)**

"He seems like a good guy." Stefan says several hours later as he wraps his arms around her. He had taken Bonnie out for ride on his bike and now they were parked at a lake not far from campus. "I did notice something though." His voice vibrates against her neck where is mouth is resting.

"What?" She shifts slightly sparks going through her at the contact from his lips.

"He clearly has a thing for Elena" He picked up on that while they were hanging out. He could actually emphasize, having felt similarly when he first met Elena. It almost seems like a lifetime ago, now that's he's fallen for Bonnie.

"How do you feel about that? I know you and Damon have your issues, but he is your brother." Based on Elena's reaction to seeing Bane, Bonnie can tell that Elena doesn't dislike Bane half as much as she says and it could have potential to cause problems.

"From what Caroline's said and what I saw today, Damon doesn't seem all that deserving of her right now. So I think it would be interesting for him to have to compete with someone other than me for Elena's affections."

"Yeah, I just hope things don't get to messy." She wouldn't be all that upset if Elena and Damon ended up breaking up, but she knows that the process could cause a lot of drama.

"Enough about Elena. I just want to spend some time with you before I have to leave." Stefan says as he begins nibbling lightly along the side of her throat. Bonnie moans and melts back a little against him, the situation with Elena, Damon, and Bane suddenly gone from her mind.


End file.
